.h-'         NQ 

AGENCIES. 


RVINCt 

A  S 

3  E  N  T. 


University  of  California  •  Berkeley 
In  Memory  of 

John  Me  Andrews 


SERVICE 


ON    THE 


INDIAN  RESERVATIONS. 


BEING   THE    EXPERIENCES    OF   A    SPECIAL 
INDIAN    AGENT    WHILE 


INSPECTING  AGENCIES 


AND    SERVING   AS 

AGENT  FOR  VARIOUS  TRIBES; 

INCLUDING 

EXPLANATIONS  OF  HOW  THE  GOVERNMENT  SERVICE  IS 

CONDUCTED  ON  THE  RESERVATIONS;   DESCRIPTIONS 

OF  AGENCIES;  ANECDOTES   ILLUSTRATING   THE 

HABITS,    CUSTOMS,  AND  PECULIARITIES 

OF    THE  INDIANS; 


HUMOROUS  ANECDOTES  AND  STORIES  OF  TRAVEL, 


By  K.  K-   WHITK. 


ILiLiUSTRATKD. 


COPYRIGHT,  1893, 
BY  E.  E.  WHITE. 

(All  Rights  Reserved.) 


"  DIPLOMA    I'RESS." 

ARKANSAS    DEMOCRAT   COMPANY, 

LITTLE     ROCK. 

1893- 


INTRODUCTION. 


CHAPTER  I. 

APPOINTED  SPECIAL  INDIAN  AGENT  —  ORDERED  TO 
WASHINGTON — SWINDLED  AND  LAUGHED  AT — AC 
QUIRING  "EXPERIENCE" — TO  NORTH  CAROLINA. 

TN  the  United  States  Indian  service  there  are  five 
•^  Special  Agents,  five  Inspectors  and  fifty-eight 
Agents.  The  Agents  have  personal  supervision  and 
control,  within  certain  limitations,  of  all  affairs  on  the 
various  Reservations,  and  in  many  cases  several  separate 
Reservations,  and  several  different  tribes,  or  remnants 
of  tribes,  are  under  the  jurisdiction  of  one  Agency. 

The  duty  of  the  Special  Agents  and  Inspectors  is  to 
visit  and  inspect  the  Agencies  from  time  to  time,  and 
investigate  all  complaints  concerning  the  Indians  or 
affairs  on  the  Reservations.  Special  Agents  are  also 
often  detailed  to  serve  as  Agents  for  indefinite  terms. 

The  Special  Agents  are  under  the  immediate  direc 
tion  and  control  of  the  Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs, 
and  the  Inspectors  are  in  like  manner  subordinate  to  the 
Secretary  of  the  Interior. 


4  SERVICE  ON  THE  INDIAN  RESERVATIONS. 

There  being  no  separate  circuits,  or  prescribed  time 
for  the  inspection  of  Agencies,  each  of  the  Special 
Agents  and  Inspectors  has  a  field  of  duty  coextensive 
with  the  limits  of  the  United  States,  and  is  required  to  go 
wherever  and  whenever  he  may  happen  to  be  ordered. 

Notice  of  my  appointment  to  be  a  Special  Agent  was 
accompanied  by  an  order  to  report  in  person  at  the  In 
dian  Office,  in  Washington.  Presenting  myself  to  the 
Commissioner,  I  was  informed  that  the  purpose  of  the 
order  was  to  enable  me  to  receive  a  course  of  instruction 
at  the  Department  before  entering  upon  my  duties  in 
the  field. 

From  the  first  information  of  my  appointment  I  had 
been  oppressed  with  a  distrust  of  my  ability  to  meet  the 
requirements  of  the  service.  I  was  shown  at  the  De 
partment,  and,  as  I  fancied,  not  in  compliment,  but 
rather  in  derision,  that  I  was  the  youngest  Special 
Agent  then  in  the  service  by  twenty  years,  and  in  addi 
tion  to  my  inexperience  in  age,  I  was  a  stranger  both  to 
Indians  and  the  Indian  service.  In  recommending  me 
for  appointment  my  friends  had  probably  urged,  in  lieu 
of  experience,  my  ordinary  business  qualifications,  and 
what  they  believed  to  be  some  natural  adaptability  to 
that  kind  of  service. 

When  I  was  deemed  well  enough  informed  to  take 
the  field,  notice  was  unofficially  communicated  to  me 


EXPERIENCES  OF  A  SPECIAL    INDIAN   AGENT.  5 

that  I  would  be  first  sent  on  a  sort  of  training  trip  to  the 
Eastern  Band  of  Cherokees,  in  North  Carolina.  This 
information  could  not  have  been  more  acceptable  to  me 
if  it  had  been  designed  as  a  special  favor,  because  I  was 
unwilling  to  be  sent  to  the  large  Agencies  in  the  West 
until  I  possessed  more  knowledge  of  the  service  than  it 
was  possible  to  acquire  in  Washington. 

But  having  accepted  the  appointment,  I  was  eager  to 
veteranize  myself  and  acquire  that  peculiar  accomplish 
ment  called  "experience."  My  first  lesson,  however, 
which  I  received  even  before  I  got  out  of  Washington, 
like  many  others  which  followed,  was  in  the  highest 
degree  unsatisfactory.  I  may  say  that  it  conformed 
exactly  to  my  idea  of  "  a  mean  trick,"  in  my  then  unso 
phisticated  state,  and,  in  addition  to  wounding  my  pride 
most  grievously  it  cost  me  a  dollar,  and,  so  far  as  I 
know,  has  never  profited  me  anything  in  return. 

It  occurred  as  follows :  On  the  morning  of  the  day 
named  in  my  orders  for  my  departure  from  Washington, 
I  went  to  the  Department  to  receive  the  special  instruc 
tions  which  I  had  been  told  would  be  ready  for  me  at 
9  o'clock.  But  being  detained  beyond  that  hour,  I 
found  to  my  dismay,  upon  returning  to  the  hotel,  that 
it  lacked  only  a  few  minutes  of  train  time.  I  had 
ascertained  that  I  should  depart  from  the  Baltimore  & 


6  SERVICE  ON  THE  INDIAN  RESERVATIONS. 

Potomac  depot,  but  was  ignorant  of  its  location.  I  sup 
posed  it  was  somewhere  toward  the  outskirts  of  the  city. 

The  hotel  at  which  I  was  stopping  is  situated  on 
Pennsylvania  Avenue,  less  than  half  way  from  the  Cap 
itol  to  the  White  House  Hurrying  out  on  the  curb 
stone,  I  hailed  a  cab  and  inquired  of  the  driver,  and  with 
manifest  anxiety,  I  now  have  no  doubt,  if  he  could  get 
me  to  the  Baltimore  &  Potomac  depot  in  time  for  the 
10:40  train.  Glancing  hastily  at  his  watch,  he  said: 
"  May  be  I  can,  if  you'll  jump  in  quick."  Detecting  a 
rascally  gleam  in  his  eye  as  he  said  that,  the  thought 
flashed  through  my  mind  that  his  intention  was  to 
secure  my  fare,  with  no  idea  of  getting  me  to  the  train. 
For  that  reason  I  told  him,  and  with  more  vehemence, 
I  am  now  willing  to  admit,  than  was  necessary,  that  I 
would  pay  him  a  dollar — double  fare — to  get  me  to  the 
depot  in  time,  but  not  a  cent  if  he  failed. 

It  was  a  pleasant  autumn  day,  and  a  group  of  ten  or 
twelve  distinguished  looking  men — Senators  and  Mem 
bers  of  Congress,  I  imagined — were  standing  in  front  of 
the  hotel.  My  negotiations  with  the  cabman  attracting 
their  attention,  they  suspended  conversation  among 
themselves  and  looked  at  me  in  an  amused  sort  of  way, 
which  at  the  time  I  did  not  comprehend. 

As  I  stepped  into  the  cab  the  driver  sprang  to  his 
seat,  gave  his  horse  a  cut  with  the  whip,  and  we  dashed 


EXPERIENCES  OF  A  SPECIAL   INDIAN    AGENT.  7 

nearly  straight  across  the  street,  stopping  in  front  of  a 
large  brick  house  just  a  little  beyond,  and  in  full  view 
of  the  hotel.  Dismounting  quickly  and  jerking  the 
cab  door  open,  the  driver  called  out: 

"Here  ye  air!" 

"  '  Here  ye  air '  what?"  I  demanded. 

"Baltimore  &  Potomac  depot.  Train  goes  in  ten 
minutes,"  he  replied. 

As  I  alighted  from  the  cab  and  gave  up  the  dollar,  I 
looked  back  across  the  street.  The  men  in  front  of  the 
hotel  threw  kisses  to  me,  and  seemed  to  say,  "Call 
again!"  ******* 

I  proceeded  direct  to  Charleston,  North  Carolina. 
The  Cherokee  Reservation,  known  as  Qualla  Boundary, 
lies  in  Swain  and  Jackson  Counties,  in  the  extreme 
southwest  corner  of  the  State,  near  the  line  of  Tennessee 
and  Georgia.  Charleston  is  the  seat  of  the  Agency, 
though  not  within  the  Boundary. 

This  pretty  little  mountain  town  occupies  a  pictur 
esque  situation  on  both  banks  of  the  Tuckaseegee  River, 
a  beautiful  tributary  of  the  Tennessee.  Here  I  had  my 
headquarters  during  my  stay  in  North  Carolina,  a  pe 
riod  of  two  months.  From  this  point  I  made  several 
trips  to  Asheville  by  rail,  and  rode  over  the  Indian 
Reservation,  and  the  surrounding  country  generally,  on 
horseback. 


SERVICE  ON  THE  INDIAN  RESERVATIONS. 


CHAPTER  II. 

AMONG    THE    EASTERN    BAND    OF    CHEROKEES  —  IN    A 
HURRICANE. 

^  I  ^HE  lands  owned  by  the  Eastern  Band  of  Chero- 
•^-  kees  are  estimated  at  sixty-five  thousand  acres — 
fifty  thousand  in  a  body  known  as  Qualla  Boundary,  in 
Swain  and  Jackson  Counties,  and  fifteen  thousand  in 
Graham  and  Cherokee  Counties. 

According  to  the  Agent's  census  report,  there  are 
nine  hundred  full-blood  Cherokees  still  inhabiting  these 
lands,  their  ancestors  having  been  permitted  to  remain 
in  that  country  when  the  main  part  of  the  tribe  removed 
to  the  Indian  Territory,  in  1832. 

These  Indians  receive  no  annuity,  or  other  personal 
aid,  from  the  Government.  Most  of  them  own  small 
farms  and  some  live  stock,  dwell  in  log  houses,  wear 
civilized  dress,  and  are  self-supporting.  The  Govern 
ment  exercises  guardianship  over  them,  and  general 
supervision  of  their  schools,  through  their  Agent  at 
Charleston.  Their  educational  facilities  consist  of  two 
boarding  schools  at  Yellow  Hill,  and  five  day  schools  in 
other  settlements. 


EXPERIENCES  OF  A  SPECIAL   INDIAN   AGENT.  9 

After  one  day  spent  in  council  with  the  Indians  on 
Qualla  Boundary,  I  made  a  trip  on  horseback  to  Murphy, 
in  Cherokee  County,  to  meet  those  in  that  locality. 
Fording  the  Tennessee  River  above  the  mouth  of  the 
Tuckaseegee,  I  fell  into  the  Valleytown  Road  at  the 
mouth  of  the  Nantahalah,  and  traveled  directly  up  that 
stream  to  its  source  at  Red  Marble  Gap. 

Hid  away  here  in  these  wild  and  almost  impenetrable 
mountains,  seldom  seen  by  man,  and  altogether  un 
known  among  the  great  rivers  of  the  earth,  this  little 
river  is  indeed  one  of  the  physical  gems  of  this  continent. 
Only  twenty  miles  long,  flowing  in  a  due  north  course, 
and  high  mountains  rising  precipitously  from  the  water's 
edge  on  both  sides,  the  sun  never  shines  on  it  except 
for  a  few  hours  at  midday.  For  this  reason  the  Chero- 
kees  call  it  Noonday  River — the  beautiful  name  Nan 
tahalah,  as  they  pronounce  it,  meaning  that  in  their 
language. 

After  two  days  spent  with  the  Indians  near  Murphy, 
and  one  day  with  a  small  band  residing  on  Hanging 
Dog  Creek,  beyond  the  Hiawassee  River,  I  set  out  for 
Robbinsville,  in  Graham  County.  Coming  back  on  the 
Charleston  road  as  far  as  Valleytown,  I  there  turned 
west  across  Cheoih  Mountain. 

Soon  after  I  began  to  ascend  the  mountain  a  heavy 
rain  and  windstorm  came  up.  A  mile  or  more  further 


10  SERVICE  ON  THE  INDIAN  RESERVATIONS. 

on  I  actually  rode  into  the  clouds.  They  were  banked 
up  against  the  mountain  side,  and  of  such  density  as  to 
be  as  dark  as  night,  except  when  illuminated  by  light 
ning.  The  road  was  a  narrow  dugway,  and  ascended 
in  a  zigzag  course,  with  an  almost  vertical  wall  on  one 
side,  and  a  gorge  several  hundred  feet  deep  on  the 
other.  The  ground  being  wet  and  slippery,  my  horse 
held  his  footing  with  great  difficulty.  Like  myself,  he 
felt  the  presence  of  danger.  Proceeding  cautiously  a 
few  steps  at  a  time,  he  would  halt  and  shiver,  and  then 
pick  his  way  slowly  on  a  few  steps  and  stop  and  shud 
der  again.  Heavy  thunder,  which  jarred  the  earth, 
and  blinding  flashes  of  lightning,  which  enveloped  me 
in  flame,  were  almost  continuous.  Several  times  the 
wind  almost  twisted  me  out  of  the  saddle,  and  seemed 
about  to  lift  my  horse  bodily  from  the  earth.  The 
rain  was  the  heaviest  I  ever  saw.  It  appeared  to  de 
scend  in  sheets  instead  of  drops  and  streams.  I  did  not 
seem  to  be  in  mere  rain,  but  in  water. 

In  the  course  of  half  an  hour  I  suddenly  emerged 
from  the  clouds.  Halting  and  turning  my  horse  around 
in  the  road,  I  looked  back  down  the  mountain.  I  had 
actually  ridden  through  the  clouds,  and  into  the  sunlight 
above  them.  All  along  the  side  of  the  mountain,  and 
far  out  over  the  valley,  lay  the  great  bank  of  clouds, 
rolling  and  tumbling  and  rearing  up  in  places,  like  some 
gigantic  thing  of  life  in  mortal  combat. 


EXPERIENCES  OF  A  SPECIAL   INDIAN   AGENT.          11 

The  mountain  still  rose  several  hundred  feet  above 
me.  Riding  on  to  the  summit,  I  halted  there  and  sur 
veyed  the  scene  again.  It  was  a  scene  worth  behold 
ing.  The  sun  never  shone  brighter  than  it  was  then 
shining  up  there  above  the  clouds.  Down  below,  the 
storm  was  unabated.  And  there  on  the  summit  I  could 
see  that  the  clouds  extended  entirely  around  the  moun 
tain.  The  thunder  was  still  booming  with  undiminished 
fury.  The  clouds  were  still  rolling  about  in  the  most 
violent  commotion,  and  lurid  with  continuous  lightning. 
Trees  were  swaying  in  every  direction,  and  in  the  awful 
roar  I  thought  I  could  distinguish  the  sounds  of  falling 
timber. 

In  easy  sight  were  several  other  peaks  also  above  the 
clouds.  Sitting  there  calm,  serene  and  majestic,  with 
their  rich  green  laurel  and  spruce  blended  with  the  sear 
and  yellow  leaf  of  the  ash  and  oak,  and  bathed  in  the 
bright  sunlight,  their  colors  made  more  brilliant  by  re 
flection  from  the  dark  clouds  below,  they  constituted  fit 
settings  in  the  vast  field  of  roaring,  upheaving  vapor 
with  which  they  were  girdled  about,  and  added  much 
to  the  grandeur  and  magnificence  of  the  scene. 

The  cold  wind  on  the  summit  soon  compelled  me  to 
proceed  on  down  through  the  storm  on  the  opposite 
side  of  the  mountain.  By  the  time  I  had  descended 
that  far  the  hurricane  had  spent  its  force.  Some  rain 


12  SERVICE  ON  THE  INDIAN  RESERVATIONS. 

was  still  falling,  and  it  seemed  as  cold  as  ice  water. 
From  there  on  down  to  Robbinsville  every  rivulet  was  a 
torrent.  Some  of  these  flowed  across  the  road,  and 
were  almost  deep  enough  to  swim  my  horse.  Water 
was  rushing  down  the  mountain  side  in  heavy  volumes 
where  there  were  no  streams  or  channels.  The  road 
was  washed  into  gullies,  and  thereby  rendered  well  nigh 
impassable,  and  in  some  places  dangerous.  I  arrived 
at  Robbinsville  just  at  nightfall,  thoroughly  wet  and 
chilled,  and  suffering  terribly  from  cold  and  neuralgia, 
in  consequence  of  the  exposure. 


EXPERIENCES  OF  A  SPECIAL    INDIAN    AGENT.          13 


CHAPTER  III. 

JOHN     JAYBIRD,     THE     "INDIAN     RELIC  "     MAKER — A 
DUDE   AND    A    LAWYER. 

WHEN  I  had  completed  my  duties  at  Robbinsville, 
I  set  out  on  the  return  trip  to  Charleston.  At 
the  ford  on  the  Tennessee  River  I  fell  in  with  a  young 
Cherokee  named  John  Jaybird,  and  rode  on  to  Charles 
ton  in  his  company.  Mr.  Jaybird  is  known  both  among 
the  whites  and  Indians  as  "the  Indian  relic  maker." 
His  chief  employment  is  carving  the  images  of  men 
and  animals  in  a  kind  of  clay,  or  soft  stone,  found  in 
that  locality.  With  no  other  implement  than  a  pocket 
knife  he  can  carve  an  exact  image  of  any  animal  he 
has  ever  seen,  or  of  which  he  has  ever  even  seen  a 
picture.  For  these  curiosities,  or  "  Indian  relics,"  as 
he  calls  them,  he  finds  a  profitable  sale  among  the 
whites. 

A  few  days  after  my  meeting  with  him,  Jaybird  made 
himself  the  hero  of  an  incident  that  was  the  subject  of 
much  humorous  comment  as  long  as  I  stayed  in  the 


14  SERVICE  ON  THE  INDIAN  RESERVATIONS. 

country.  A  dude  came  out  from  the  city  to  visit  Mr. 
Siler,  a  prominent  young  lawyer  of  Charleston.  He 
professed  to  be  fond  of  fishing,  and  from  the  first  mani 
fested  great  impatience  to  embark  in  that  delightful 
pastime.  He  was  very  loud,  and  so  extremely  bluster 
ing  and  energetic  that  Mr.  Siler's  village  friends  stood 
off  and  looked  on  in  amazement,  and  sometimes  in  great 
amusement  also.  But  Mr.  Siler  was  courteous  and 
obliging,  and  not  disposed  to  be  critical.  Nevertheless, 
it  was  whispered  about  among  his  home  friends  that  at 
heart  he  would  be  glad  enough  to  get  the  dude  off  in 
the  woods  out  of  sight.  Anyhow,  he  said  the  dude 
should  fish  as  much  as  he  wished. 

Equipped  with  bait  and  tackle,  they  betook  them 
selves  to  the  river.  To  the  dude's  evident  astonishment 
the  fish  refused  to  come  out  on  the  bank  and  suffer  him 
to  kill  them  with  a  club,  and  he  shifted  about  too  much 
to  give  them  a  chance  at  his  hook.  He  could  always 
see  a  better  place  somewhere  else.  He  soon  began  to 
manifest  disappointment  in  the  fish  and  disgust  for  the 
country,  and  intimated  that  the  people  were  shamefully 
deficient  in  enterprise  and  style,  and  in  no  respect  what 
they  should  be. 

Rambling  on  down  the  river — the  dude  leading  and 
Siler  following — they  came  in  sight  of  Jaybird,  who  was 
also  fishing.  Sitting  motionless  on  a  rock,  with  his 


EXPERIENCES  OF  A  SPECIAL    INDIAN    AGENT.          15 

gaze  fixed  on  the  cork  on  his  line,  he  seemed  the  coun 
terpart  of  "the  lone  fisherman." 

"By  jove  !  Vender's  an  Indian,"  said  the  dude; 
"  let's  make  him  get  away  and  let  us  have  that  place." 

"Oh,  no,"  replied  Siler;  "  that's  John  Jaybird,  one 
of  the  best  fellows  in  the  world.  Let's  not  bother 
him." 

Mr.  Siler  and  Jaybird  were  close  friends. 

"No,"  said  the  dude;  "that's  the  most  decent  place 
I've  seen,  and  I  intend  to  have  it;  I  do,  by  Jove!" 

"Oh,  no;  don't  do  that,"  Siler  pleaded;  "he 
wouldn't  disturb  us.  Besides,  if  we  try  to  make  him 
go  he's  liable  to  get  stubborn,  and  we  had  better  not 
have  any  trouble  with  him.  Wait  and  I'll  ask  him  to 
let  you  have  the  place;  may  be  he'll  do  it." 

"  Oh,  get  out,"  the  dude  ejaculated  ;  "  what's 
the  use  of  so  much  politeness  with  a  lazy,  sleepy-look 
ing  Indian?  Watch  me  wake  him  up  and  make  him 
trot.  By  jove,  watch  me!" 

Swelling  himself  up  to  the  highest  tension,  he  strode 
up  to  Jaybird,  who  was  still  unaware  of  their  approach. 
Slapping  his  hand  down  on  Jaybird's  head  and  snatch* 
ing  his  hat  off,  he  exclaimed: 

"Here,  you  Indian;  clear  out  from  here!  By  jove, 
clear  out !" 


16  SERVICE  ON  THE  INDIAN  RESERVATIONS. 

Jaybird  looked  up  at  the  intruder,  but  with  a  face  as 
barren  of  expression  as  the  rock  upon  which  he  sat. 
Comprehending  the  demand,  however,  he  replied: 

"Yes;  me  no  clear  out.  Me  heap  like  it,  this  place. 
Me  heap  ketch  him,  fish." 

"Get  out,  I  tell  you!  By  jove,  get  out'"  roared 
the  dude,  with  visible  signs  of  embarrassment  and  rage. 

"Yes,  me  no  git  out.     Me  heap  like  it,  this — " 

Before  Jaybird  could  finish  the  sentence  the  dude 
slapped  him  on  the  side  of  the  head  with  his  open  hand. 
Springing  to  his  feet,  Jaybird  uttered  a  whoop  and  ran 
into  the  dude,  butting  him  with  his  head  and  shoulders 
instead  of  striking  him.  The  dude's  breath  escaped 
from  him  with  a  sound  not  unlike  the  bleat  of  a  calf, 
and  he  fell  at  full  length  on  his  back.  Jaybird  went 
down  on  top  of  him,  pounding  and  biting  with  a  force 
and  ferocity  that  suggested  a  cross  between  a  pugilist 
and  a  wild  cat.  The  dude  tried  to  call  Siler,  but  Jay 
bird  put  his  mouth  over  the  dude's  and  bit  his  lips  al 
most  off.  He  bit  the  dude's  nose,  eyebrows,  cheeks, 
ears  and  arms.  He  choked  him,  and  beat  him  from  his 
waist  to  his  head. 

When  Jaybird  thus  sprung  himself  head  foremost  at 
the  dude,  Siler  fell  over  on  the  ground  in  a  spasm  of 
laughter.  This  did  not  escape  Jaybird's  notice,  and  he 
jumped  to  a  wrong  conclusion  as  to  the  cause  of  it. 


EXPERIENCES  OF  A  SPECIAL   INDIAN    AGENT.          17 

Siler  always  said  that  he  had  no  idea  the  Indian  was 
hurting  the  dude  half  so  bad,  but  that  the  turn  the  affair 
had  taken  was  so  absurd  and  ridiculous  he  would  have 
been  bound  to  laugh  anyhow.  His  friends  believed 
that  he  was  simply  glad  to  see  the  dude  get  a  whipping. 
Possibly  both  these  causes  contributed  to  his  hilarity. 

But  the  conviction  had  fastened  itself  on  Jaybird's 
mind  that  this  man  Siler,  whom  he  had  always  regarded 
as  a  friend,  was  laughing  because  the  dude  was  making 
him  clear  out.  So,  while  the  dude  was  performing  that 
feat,  Jaybird  kept  one  eye  on  Siler  and  silently  deter 
mined  in  his  own  mind  what  he  would  do  for  him  when 
he  got  through  with  the  dude. 

The  dude  had  scarcely  raised  a  hand  in  resistance 
since  this  human  catapult  struck  him,  and  now  he  lay 
there  as  limp  and  motionless  as  a  dead  man.  Siler  had 
laughed  until  he  was  almost  exhausted,  and  was  leaning 
against  a  sapling,  still  laughing.  Suddenly  Jaybird  ut 
tered  another  whoop,  sprang  from  the  dude  and  rushed 
furiously  on  Siler.  Before  the  hilarious  lawyer  could 
recover  from  his  surprise,  he  was  down  on  his  back, 
rapidly  being  pounded  and  chewed  into  pulp  himself. 

The  dude  dragged  himself  to  the  root  of  a  tree,  care 
fully  placed  his  single  eyeglass,  and  began,  as  Siler 
expressed  it,  "to  hold  an  inquest  on  himself,  and  take 
an  inventory  of  his  bruises  and  mutilations."  Siler 


18  SERVICE  ON  THE  INDIAN  RESERVATIONS. 

called  to  him  for  help.  He  seemed  surprised,  and 
could  repress  his  resentment  of  Siler's  conduct  no  longer. 
Readjusting  his  eyeglass,  and  taking  a  closer  look  at 
Jaybird  and  Siler,  he  exclaimed  in  a  tone  of  mingled 
revenge  and  satisfaction : 

"Ah,  by  jove  !  You're  calling  for  help  yourself 
now,  are  you?  You  played  the  deuce  helping  me; 
you  did,  by  jove!  I  hope  he'll  beat  you  to  death  and 
scalp  you,  and  if  it  were  not  for  the  law  I'd  help  him 
do  it;  I  would,  by  jove!  !" 

Jaybird  relaxed  no  effort  until  Siler  was  as  badly 
whipped  as  the  dude.  Then  rising  and  deliberately 
spitting  on  his  bait  afresh,  he  resumed  his  seat  on 
the  rock,  and  again  remarked  in  the  same  half-suppli 
cating  tone,  though  with  rather  an  ominous  shake  of 
the  head : 

"  Yes;  me  no  git  out.  Me  heap  like  it,  this  place. 
Me  heap  ketch  him,  fish." 

None  of  their  bones  being  broken,  Siler  and  the  dude 
were  able  to  get  back  to  Charleston.  The  whole  town 
gathered  in  to  look  at  them,  and  the  affair  provoked 
many  witty  comments.  The  doctor  said  he  could 
patch  up  their  wounds  well  enough  for  all  practical 
purposes,  but  he  shook  his  head  discouragingly  when 
asked  if  they  would  ever  be  pretty  any  more. 


EXPERIENCES  OF  A  SPECIAL   INDIAN    AGENT.          19 

Mr.  Jaybird  came  out  without  a  scratch,  and  Siler 
said  the  last  they  saw  of  him  he  was  sitting  on  the  rock, 
gazing  at  the  cork  on  his  line,  precisely  as  he  was  when 
they  found  him. 


20  SERVICE  ON  THE  INDIAN  RESERVATIONS. 


CHAPTER   IV. 

A  NIGHT  AMONG   MOONSHINERS — GLAD  I  WAS  NOT  RE 
LATED  TO  OLD  DAVE "UPSTAIRS" — AN  UNCOMMON 

BEDCHAMBER  —  THE  OCCUPANTS  OF  THE  LOWER 
BERTH — '  'MUST  NOT  LOOK  CROSS-EYED' ' — ORDERED 
BACK  TO  WASHINGTON. 

r^HAT  portion  of  North  Carolina  was  known  in  the 
•*"  Revenue  Department  as  one  of  the  worst  moon 
shine  districts  in  the  United  States.  Being  a  stranger, 
and  traveling  alone  over  the  country,  I  was  several  times 
suspected  of  being  a  revenue  officer.  Under  this  sus 
picion  my  life  would  have  been  in  peril  if  I  had  come 
even  accidentally  on  an  illicit  distillery,  or  unconsciously 
turned  from  the  main  highway  in  the  direction  of  one. 

The  first  intimation  I  had  of  being  thus  suspected 
was  on  a  trip  by  the  wagon  road  from  Webster  to 
Charleston.  The  route  lay  across  a  range  of  mountains, 
and,  as  I  had  been  delayed  by  an  accident,  nightfall 
overtook  me  long  before  I  reached  the  summit.  Just 
as  twilight  was  setting  in  I  came  to  an  old  mountain 
eer's  cabin.  The  old  fellow  was  out  at  the  roadside 


EXPERIENCES  OF  A  SPECIAL   INDIAN   AGENT.          21 

as  I  drove  up.  He  seemed  to  have  been  apprised  of 
my  approach,  and  I  was  much  puzzled  by  the  cunning, 
wariness  and  evident  suspicion  with  which  he  regarded 
me.  At  first  he  refused  me  hospitality  for  the  night, 
on  the  plea  that  he  had  not  a  blade  of  fodder  or  a  grain 
of  corn  for  my  team,  or  a  mouthful  of  anything  for  me 
to  eat.  He  declared  that  he  was  right  on  the  verge 
of  starvation,  and  that  he  did  not  see  what  was  to  be 
come  of  the  country;  that  if  times  did  not  take  a  turn 
for  the  better  pretty  soon  the  bottom  would  '  'jis 
natchally"  drop  out  entirely. 

I  reminded  him  that  it  was  several  miles  to  the  near 
est  house  on  the  road  in  either  direction,  and  told  him 
that  unless  he  could  take  me  in  I  would  have  to  tie  up 
my  team  and  sleep  under  the  trees. 

"You  ain't  jis  natchally  af eared  to  go  on,  air  you?" 
he  asked. 

"Yes,"  I  replied;  "just  naturally  afraid.  Besides, 
as  the  road  is  difficult  and  dangerous,  and  I  have  never 
been  over  it,  I  don't  believe  I  could  find  the  way  in  a 
dark  night,  as  this  is  going  to  be,  even  if  I  were  brave 
enough  to  try." 

"You  don't,  eh?  What  do  you  call  your  name,  if 
it's  a  fair  question?" 

"White." 


22  SERVICE  ON  THE  INDIAN  RESERVATIONS. 

"White?  By  gravy!  Any  kin  to  old  Uncle  Davey 
White,  of  Soco  Gap?" 

"I  hope  not." 

"You  don't  say!  Well,  I'll  be  hanged  if  you  don't 
jis  natchally  know  him  mighty  well  fur  a  man  that  ain't 
no  kin  to  him." 

"Don't  know  him  at  all.  Never  heard  of  him  be 
fore." 

" Didn't!  Well,  you've  jis  natchally  got  the  old 
rascal  sized  up  about  right,  anyhow.  You  have,  shore 
fur  a  fack." 

"  How  do  you  know  I've  sized  him  up  at  all?" 

"Why,  didn't  you  say  yourself  jis  now  that  you  jis 
natchally  hoped  you  warn't  no  kin  to  the  old  Repub 
lican  son-of-a-gun?" 

"Yes,  and  I  stick  to  it,  but — " 

"Bully  fur  you,  Colonel!  Hanged  if  I  wouldn't 
stick  to  it  too.  I'm  jis  natchally  glad  myself  that  you 
ain't  no  kin  to  the  old  rapscallion.  And,  Colonel,  if 
it's  a  fair  question,  I'd  jis  natchally  love  to  know 
whur  you'er  goin'  ?" 

"To  Charleston." 

"You  don't  say!  You  hain't  lived  there  long,  I 
reckon.  I  ain't  never  seed  you  there." 

"I  don't  live  there  at  all,  and  did  not  say  that  I 
did." 


EXPERIENCES  OF  A  SPECIAL   INDIAN   AGENT.         23 

"Don't  take  no  offense,  Colonel;  don't  take  no  of 
fense.  I  don't  mean  no  harm;  none  at  all.  But,  gen- 
tlemen,  I  'd  jis  natchally  love  to  know  whur  you  do  live, 
if  you  don't  mind  tellin'?" 

"  In  Arkansas." 

"THEdfcz////  In  Arkan — Say,  Colonel;  my  name 
is  Beasly — Wm.  H.  Beasly,  Esquire,  J.  P.,  jestice  of 
the  peace  of  Panter  Creek  Precinct.  By  grab,  I'm  jis 
natchally  glad  to  meet  you,  and  if  you  don't  mind 
tellin',  I'd  jis  natchally  love  to  know  what  you'er  up 
to  in  this  neighborhood?  The  war  hain't  broke  out 
agin,  has  it?" 

"Now,  'Squire,  what  suggests  war  to  your  mind?  I 
acknowledge  that  I  am  very  hungry — that  is  one  reason 
why  I  wanted  to  stay  all  night  with  you — but  I  didn't 
suppose  I  had  begun  to  look  much  like  an  army." 

"Oh,  by  gravy,  no;  I  wouldn't  say  that  you  look 
like  an  army — especially  the  fightin*  part.  No;  by 
jacks,  I'd  never  say  that.  But,  honest  Injun,  now, 
Colonel;  ain't  you  jis  natchally  up  to  some  devilment 
in  this  neighborhood?  Blast  my  buttons  if  you  ain't 
the  fust  white  man  I've  seed  from  Arkansas  since  the 
war.  6V;z//£?MEN,  the  way  them  toothpicks  did  fight 
was  a  caution  to  General  Jackson!  Well,  Colonel, 
how  er  all  the  folks  in  Arkansas  now,  anyhow?  Hanged 
if  I  wouldn't  jis  natchally  love  to  know." 


24  SERVICE  ON  THE  INDIAN  RESERVATIONS. 

"  'Squire,  that  was  another  reason  why  I  did  want  to 
stay  all  night  with  you.  I  wanted  to  tell  you  all  about 
the  folks  at  home,  and  talk  over  old  times  generally 
with  you.  But  I  reckon  I  had  better  get  out  here 
under  the  trees  and  try  to  rake  enough  dry  leaves  to 
gether  to  make  a  bed  before  it  gets  too  dark.  And, 
'Squire,  if  I  thought  you  could  spare  it,  and  it  would 
not  put  you  to  too  much  inconvenience,  I  would  ask 
you  for  a  drink  of  water,  for  I  haven't  been  as  thirsty 
and  hungry  since  the  war.  But  never  mind  ;  may  be  I 
can  stand  it  till  morning.  If  you  could  spare  me  a 
little  water,  though,  and  even  an  ear  of  corn  to  parch, 
I  think  I  could  get  along  much  better." 

"Confound  it,  Colonel;  shet  up  that  sort  er  talk! 
Spare  a  drink  o'  water  !  The  Jeemses  River !  Dog-gone 
it,  go  down  to  the  spring  and  drink  a  barrelful.  And 
lookee  here!  By  gump,  I've  knowed  fellers  to  git  bit 
on  strangers  so  bad  it  made  thur  heads  swim,  an'  you 
look  to  me  more  like  the  slickest  kind  of  a  yankee  carpet 
bagger  than  any  Arkansas  toothpick  I  ever  seed.  But 
bein'  as  you  say  you  er  from  Arkansas,  an'  ain't  no  kin 
to  old  Dave,  dog  my  cats  if  I  don't  let  you  stay,  if  I 
never  hear  the  last  of  it.  A  year  o'  corn  an'  a  bed  o' 
leaves!  Thunder  an'  lightnin' ;  why  bless  my  time, 
you  jis  natchally  wouldn't  need  anything  else  but 
bristles  to  be  a  plum  hog.  You'll  find  our  fare  pow- 


EXPERIENCES  OF  A  SPECIAL   INDIAN   AGENT.         25 

erful  poor,  you  will,  shore  fur  a  fack,  but  if  you  kin 
put  up  with  it,  you  er  welcome;  provided  you  ain't 
after  no  devilment." 

While  we  were  unharnessing  the  team,  the  'Squire 
continued : 

"An'  you  say  you  ain't  no  kin  to  old  Dave!  Well, 
I'm  jis  natchally  glad  you  ain't.  I  don't  say  nothin' 
agin  old  Davey  myself,  because  I  don't  know  nothin' 
agin  him;  but  then  if  the  old  sinner  ever  did  an  honest 
day's  work  in  his  life  I've  never  hearn  of  it.  1  don't 
say  nothin'  about  no  distillery,  because  I  don't  know 
nothin'  about  none,  but  old  Dave  jis  natchally  makes  a 
livin'  somehow,  an'  a  mighty  good  one  too,  I  can  tell 
you.  He  lives  about  ten  mile  from  here,  and  I'm  jis 
natchally  glad  he  don't  live  no  clusser.  We  ain't  got 
no  stills  in  this  neighborhood,  and  we  don't  want  none. 
Used  to  have  some,  and  the  woods  wuz  always  full  of 
revenue  officers  and  deputy  marshals — deputy  devils,  I 
call  'em — prowlin'  around  makin'  trouble,  an'  the  boys 
jis  natchally  got  discouraged  and  quit,  an'  I'm  glad 
they  did.  We  have  a  mighty  good  neighborhood  here 
now;  nearly  all  the  boys  belong  to  the  church.  I  tell 
you,  doin'  away  with  the  stills  has  jis  natchally  done 
us  a  power  o'  good;  it  has,  shore  for  a  fack.  An  you 
say  you  live  in  Arkansas!  Gentle;/^?/,  but  that's  a 
long  ways  from  here  ! ' ' 


26  SERVICE  ON  THE  INDIAN  RESERVATIONS. 

At  supper  there  was  nothing  in  the  appearance  of  the 
table  to  suggest  starvation,  or  that  the  bottom  was 
about  to  drop  out  of  the  country,  as  the  'Squire  seemed 
to  fear.  On  the  contrary,  the  fare,  though  plain,  was 
wholesome  and  abundant. 

The  'Squire's  family  consisted  of  himself  and  wife, 
andJwo  sons  and  two  daughters,  the  four  latter  rang 
ing  in  age  from  sixteen  to  twenty-two  years,  one  of  the 
sons  being  the  oldest  and  the  other  the  youngest.  Two 
small  rooms  constituted  his  domicile.  The  main  room 
contained  a  large  open  fireplace  at  one  end  and  two 
beds  at  the  other,  and  also  served  as  a  sitting  room. 
The  side  room  served  as  a  dining  room  and  kitchen, 
and  also  as  the  bedroom  of  the  boys. 

When  bedtime  came  on  the  'Squire  asked  me  if  I 
was  a  good  climber.  I  told  him  I  was  first  rate  for  a 
man  of  my  thickness  and  weight,  but  that  he  could  see 
for  himself  that  I  was  not  exactly  of  the  right  build  for 
a  trapeze  performer,  and  asked  him  why  he  wanted  to 
know.  He  replied  that  he  would  have  to  send  me  up 
stairs  to  sleep,  and  was  "  sorter  afeared  I  couldn't  make 
it,  because  he  had  jis  natchally  never  had  time  to  fix 
reglar  steps." 

Looking  upward,  I  saw  joists  overhead,  but  neither 
floor  nor  ceiling.  But  to  my  amazement  there  was  a 


EXPERIENCES  OF  A  SPECIAL   INDIAN   AGENT.         27 

bed  up  there,  immediately  over  one  of  those  below, 
the  feet  of  the  bed  posts  resting  upon  and  toe-nailed  to 
the  joists. 

The  "staircase"  consisted  of  cleats  nailed  to  the 
wall.  Mrs.  Beasly  and  the  girls  having  retired  from 
the  room,  I  proceeded  to  ascend  to  my  bedchamber  by 
climbing  hand-over-hand.  As  I  reached  the  top  cleat 
and  was  trying  to  swing  myself  up  on  the  joist,  the 
'Squire  called  out: 

"Think  you  kin  make  it  ?  Be  kearful;  that's  right 
whur  a  great  big  Cincinnati  drummer  was  tother  night 
when  he  fell  an'  jis  natchally  lack  to  have  killed  hisself ; 
he  did,  shore  fur  afack." 

The  joists  were  about  three  feet  apart,  with  just  one 
narrow  plank  on  them  in  front  of  the  bed.  Sitting 
down  on  the  side  of  the  bed  and  drawing  off  my  boots, 
I  tied  them  together  with  my  handkerchief  and  swung 
them  across  a  joist,  saddlebag  fashion.  There  were 
open  cracks  in  the  walls,  and  as  I  rolled  back  on  the  bed 
and  covered  up,  I  heard  suppressed  giggling  in  the  side 
room,  which  threw  me  into  a  very  profuse  cold  sweat. 

The  bedstead  was  the  most  abominable  contrivance 
of  the  kind  that  I  have  ever  seen.  All  of  its  joints  were 
loose  and  seemed  to  have  been  lubricated  with  rosin. 
Every  time  I  moved  it  swayed  around  and  creaked  and 
rattled  almost  as  loud  as  a  Mexican  cart, 


28  SERVICE  ON  THE  INDIAN  RESERVATIONS. 

After  I  got  settled  in  bed,  and  probably  appeared 
to  be  asleep,  Mrs.  Beasly  came  quietly  back  into  the 
room  and  resumed  her  seat  at  the  fire  with  the  'Squire. 
A  moment  later  I  heard  her  reproaching  him  for  send 
ing  me  up  there.  As  they  were  below  me  and  the 
sounds  of  their  voices  ascended,  I  could  hear  them  even 
when  they  conversed  in  whispers. 

"He  seems  like  the  nicest  kind  of  a  man,"  I  heard 
the  dear  old  lady  say. 

"You  think  he  does,  do  you?"  was  the  suspicious 
old  scamp's  response. 

"Yes;  and  Bettie  and  Susie  did  so  hate  for  you  to 
put  him  up  there,"  she  replied. 

"Bettie  and  Susie!"  he  almost  snorted.  "Well, 
his  looks  don't  suit  me,  not  a  dog-gone  bit.  An'  I 
want  to  give  you  a  pinter  right  now.  If  he  don't  fill 
the  bill  with  the  undersigned  there  musn't  be  nobody 
else  goin'  crazy  nor  actin'  a  fool  over  him  about  these 
premises;  there  musn't,  shore  fur  a  fack.  I'll  bet  my 
years  he's  up  to  some  devilment,  an'  if  I  ketch  him 
lookin'  cross-eyed  at  you  or  one  o'  them  gals,  I'll  larrup 
him  until  he'll  wish  he'd  never  been  borned;  I  jis 
natchally  will." 

"Oh,  you  er  too  suspicious." 

' '  Well,  he  may  be  all  right,  and  then  agin  he  mayn't. 
He  says  he's  from  Arkansas.  That's  a  lie  on  the  face 


EXPERIENCES  OF  A  SPECIAL   INDIAN    AGENT.         29 

of  the  papers,  as  them  Asheville  lawyers  say.  What 
would  a  feller  from  Arkansas  be  doin'  in  this  country, 
I'd  jis  natchally  love  to  know.  That's  too  thin.  He 
looks  to  me  mighty  like  an  everlasting  revenue  officer. 
An'  if  he  is — IF  he  is,  I  say — and  tries  to  git  down 
from  there  to-night  to  go  prowlin'  aroun'  lookin'  for 
stills,  he'll  jis  natchally  break  his  neck  short  off  at  the 
shoulders.  That's  why  I  drove  the  poor  little  thing 
off  up  there.  I  reckon  you  an'  the  gals  would  'a 
tucked  him  away  in  a  cradle  here  by  the  fire !  But  I 
don't  want  none  o'  the  boys  blamin'  me  for  lettin'  an 
enemy  roost  aroun'  my  house  to  pick  'em  up  unawares. 
He  pretended  to  be  afeared  to  go  on.  I  jis  natchally 
don't  believe  that  nuther.  My  opinion  is  that  he  did 
that  jis  to  git  to  hang  aroun'  here  an'  turn  your'n  an' 
the  gals'  heads,  until  his  posse  can  come  in  sometime 
to-night,  an'  then  jis  natchally  raise  sand.  Oh,  you 
may  depend  on  it,  there's  more  of  'em  in  the  neigh 
borhood.  But  the  man  that  can  git  ahead  of  old 
'Squire  Wm.  H.  Beasly,  J.  P.,  will  jis  natchally  have  to 
git  up  a  right  smart  earlier  in  the  mornin'  than  I  think 
that  feller  up  there  ever  riz ;  he  will,  shore  fur  a  fack." 

"Aha!"  I  said  to  myself;  "once  I  was  blind,  but 
now  I  see  a  thing  or  two.  This  grizzly  old  rascal  is  a 
moonshiner,  and  thinks  I  am  a  revenue  officer." 

While  I  was  lying  there  meditating  upon  the  ludi- 


30  SERVICE  ON  THE  INDIAN  RESERVATIONS. 

crousness  of  my  situation,  the  girls  came  tiptoeing  back 
into  the  room,  and  Mrs.  Beasly  told  them  to  go  on  to 
bed.  They  came  back  as  noiselessly  as  kittens  to  the 
bed  immediately  beneath  mine.  But  not  a  sound  did  I 
hear,  except  the  faintest  rustle  of  clothing  and  just  a 
mere  suspicion  of  persons  getting  in  bed, 

I  meditated  some  more.  Suppose  my  crazy  old  bed 
stead  should  break  down,  or  I  should  get  frightened  in 
my  sleep  and  jump  out,  or  fall  out  accidentally  and  knock 
myself  cross-eyed!  The  'Squire  probably  would  not 
want  a  better  pretext  for  "larruping"  me,  and  the 
fact  that  the  old  lady  regarded  me  as  "the  nicest  kind 
of  a  man"  would  doubtless  add  to  his  enjoyment  of  the 
performance. 

Before  retiring  the  'Squire  extinguished  the  light  in 
the  h'replace,  and  soon  the  very  stillness  of  che  place 
became  oppressive  to  me.  Along  towards  midnight, 
and  when  my  nervousness  was  about  to  succumb  to  fa 
tigue  and  loss  of  sleep,  the  dogs  began  to  bark.  Some 
minutes  later  I  heard  a  sound  as  of  an  owl  hooting.  I 
was  satisfied  it  was  a  counterfeit.  It  was  a  good  imita 
tion,  but  not  the  genuine  sound.  I  lay  still  and  listened. 

The  'Squire  arose  and  tiptoed  from  the  room.  The 
dogs  ceased  to  bark.  Half  an  hour  later  the  'Squire 
crept  back  into  the  room  and  felt  his  way  back  to  his 
bed. 


EXPERIENCES  OF  A  SPECIAL   INDIAN    AGENT.          31 

After  the  lapse  of  an  hour,  and  when  I  was  again 
about  to  fall  asleep,  I  heard  the  approach  of  a  cow 
bell.  The  dogs  barked  as  before.  It  was  the  first 
time  I  had  ever  heard  dogs  bark  at  owls  and  grazing 
stock.  I  noticed  also  that  the  rattling  of  the  bell  was 
with  a  somewhat  peculiar  stroke,  and  almost  as  regular 
as  drum-beats.  It  moved  slowly  along  in  front  of  the 
house  and  a  short  distance  beyond  ceased  entirely. 
Again  the  'Squire  stole  out  for  half  an  hour,  and  then 
crept  back  as  before.  At  the  same  time  I  heard  his 
two  sons  stealthily  enter  the  side  room  and  go  to  bed, 
where  I  supposed  they  had  been  all  night. 

Surely  my  presence  in  the  neighborhood  had  put 
"the  boys"  on  the  alert.  The  'Squire  was  evidently 
sending  and  receiving  "grapevine"  dispatches.  If 
questioned  about  it  he  would  probably  say  that  "the 
boys"  were  "  jis  natchally  "  holding  their  usual  weekly 
prayer  meeting. 

When  morning  came  I  felt  as  if  witches  had  been 
riding  me  all  night.  Wishing  to  see  if  the  way  was 
clear  so  that  I  might  arise,  I  moved  my  face  slightly 
over  the  edge  of  the  bed  and  glanced  at  the  "lower 
berth,"  taking  particular  care,  however,  that  my  eyes 
did  not  get  crossed,  because  the  'Squire  was  sitting  at  the 
fire,  looking  as  fresh  as  a  morning-glory.  To  my  great 
relief  the  girls  had  arisen  and  gone  from  the  room. 


32  SERVICE  ON  THE  INDIAN  RESERVATIONS. 

Seeing  me  awake  the  'Squire  remarked  that  it  was 
"time  to  git  up."  I  replied  that  I  was  just  considering 
my  ability  to  get  down.  He  chuckled  a  little  over  that, 
and  as  I  descended  he  adverted  to  the  topics  of  the 
evening  before  with  the  observation  : 

"An'  you  say  you  live  in  Arkansas!  Gentlemen, 
but  you  er  a  long  ways  from  home ;  you  air,  shore  fur  a 
fack.  Well,  I'm  powerful  glad  you  ain't  no  kin  to  old 
Dave,  anyhow.  /  don't  say  nothin'  agin  old  Davey 
myself,  because  I  don't  know  nothin'  agin  him,  but 
then  folks  will  jis  natchally  have  their  suspicions,  you 
know." 

There  being  no  reason  why  I  should  conceal  my 
business  from  any  person,  I  conceived  the  idea  that 
there  might  be  some  fun  in  making  it  known  to  the 
'Squire.  But  his  eagerness  was  so  great  that  I  deter 
mined  not  to  enlighten  him  directly,  but  to  compliment 
Mrs.  Beasly  by  giving  her  the  information  first.  At 
breakfast  I  purposely  engaged  her  in  conversation — not 
a  cross-eyed  conversation,  however — and  told  her  truth 
fully  who  I  was,  and  the  nature  of  my  business  in  that 
country.  I  was  correct  about  the  fun.  The  'Squire  was 
both  astonished  and  delighted.  The  intelligence  relieved 
him  of  great  suspense  and  uneasiness,  and  his  cordiality 
at  once  became  demonstrative.  He  said  he  was  "jis 
natchally"  gladder  than  ever  that  I  "  warnt "  no  kin  to 


EXPERIENCES  OF  A  SPECIAL    INDIAN    AGENT.          33 

old  Dave.  After  breakfast  he  introduced  me  to  a  two- 
gallon  jug,  and  told  his  sons — Zeb  Vance  and  Beaure- 
gard — to  "run  and  give  the  Colonel's  team  a  whole  lot 
more  feed,  and  grease  his  buggy  for  him."  I  declined 
the  first  hospitality  on  the  plea  that  it  took  but  little  asso 
ciation  with  a  jug  of  that  size  to  make  me  cross-eyed ', 
and  that  I  never  did  like  to  look  cross-eyed  at  anybody, 
because  I  had  heard  people  say  it  was  bad  luck  to  do  so. 

Early  that  afternoon  I  got  back  to  Charleston.  Re 
lating  my  experience  at  the  'Squire's,  I  was  told  that 
it  was  a  notorious  and  dangerous  moonshine  neighbor 
hood,  and  that  he  was  the  chief  of  the  clan — a  kind  of 
alcalde  among  them.  But  none  of  my  acquaintances 
at  Charleston  had  ever  heard  of  old  Davey,  and  I  left 
the  country  without  ever  learning  why  the  'Squire  was 
so  glad  that  I  was  not  related  to  him.  It  may  have  been 
due  to  a  factionary  feud,  the  jealousy  of  a  rival  leader, 
or  old  Dave  may  have  been  a  fictitious  person,  and  the 
'Squire's  distrust  of  him  a  mere  prelense  to  divert  me 
from  "the  boys"  and  stills  in  his  own  neighborhood. 

My  mission  in  North  Carolina  was  now  about  ful 
filled.  I  had  been  in  the  State  two  months,  and  at 
Charleston  and  on  the  Qualla  Boundary,  where  I  had 
passed  most  of  the  time,  I  had  made  a  great  many 
acquaintances,  among  both  whites  and  Indians,  whom 
I  still  remember  with  much  satisfaction. 

(2) 


34  SERVICE  ON  THE  INDIAN  RESERVATIONS. 

Reporting  to  the  Department  and  asking  for  further 
instructions,  I  received  an  order  by  telegraph  to  return 
to  Washington.  Proceeding  by  way  of  Asheville  and 
stopping  one  day  at  that  place,  I  arrived  at  Washing 
ton  on  the  1 5th  of  December. 


EXPERIENCES  OF  A  SPECIAL   INDIAN    AGENT.          35 


CHAPTER  V. 

FROM  WASHINGTON  TO  THE  INDIAN  TERRITORY  AND 
KANSAS — A  NIGHT  AT  TIGER  JACK'S — "A  DAFE  AND 
DUMB  HAYTHEN  NAGUR" — TO  THE  SAC  AND  FOX 
AGENCY — MY  FIRST  SPEECH  TO  BLANKET  INDIANS — 
TO  THE  QUAPAW  AGENCY — A  VISIT  TO  THE  MODOCS. 

T)  EPORTING  to  the  Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs 
^^-  in  person  upon  my  arrival  in  Washington  from 
North  Carolina,  I  found  him  directing  the  preparation 
of  instructions  for  me  to  proceed  to  Kansas  and  the 
Indian  Territory,  to  investigate  an  alleged  sale  of  lands 
by  the  Black  Bob  Band  of  Shawnees.  It  was  a  case  of 
unusual  importance  and  the  Commissioner  was  giving 
it  close  personal  attention. 

Proceeding  direct  to  Muscogee,  the  seat  of  the  Union 
Agency,  in  the  Indian  Territory,  I  arrived  there  on  the 
4th  day  of  January.  The  Union  Agency  embraces 
what  are  known  as  the  five  civilized  tribes — the  Chero- 
kees,  Choctaws,  Chickasaws,  Creeks  and  Seminoles. 
The  Agent  at  that  time  was  the  distinguished  young 
Cherokee  citizen,  Colonel  Robert  L.  Owen.  Colonel 


36  SERVICE  ON  THE  INDIAN  RESERVATIONS. 

Owen  is  part  Cherokee,  though  the  white  blood  largely 
predominates.  He  was  the  first  tribal  citizen  to  hold 
the  office  of  Agent,  and  he  sustained 
that  important  and  difficult  trust 
throughout  his  term  with  distin- 
guished  ability  and  the  highest  satis 
faction  and  credit  to  the  Government. 
Most  of  the  Black  Bobs  being 
under  Agent  Owen's  jurisdiction, 
L.  OWN.  arid  he  having  recommended  the  in 
vestigation,  I  was,  of  course,  directed  to  confer  with 
him  for  a  starting  point.  Having  acquired  all  the 
information  he  could  give,  on  the  /th  of  January  I 
moved  up  to  Wyandotte,  Kansas,  and  served  notice  on 
the  alleged  purchaser  of  the  land  of  the  time  and  place 
when  and  where  I  would  begin  taking  testimony. 

From  Wyandotte  I  returned  by  way  of  Olathe,  Kan 
sas,  where  I  stopped  a  week,  to  Vinita,  in  the  Cherokee 
Nation,  where  I  was  to  begin  the  investigation,  and 
where  I  was  met  by  the  purchaser  and  his  attorneys. 

'  Nearly  all  the  witnesses  being  Indians  and  unable  to 
speak  the  English  language,  their  depositions  had  to  be 
taken  through  an  interpreter.  When  we  had  taken  all 
the  testimony  obtainable  at  Vinita,  which  took  us  more 
than  ten  days  to  do,  I  adjourned  the  investigation  to 
the  Sac  and  Fox  Agency,  where  I  had  been  informed 
some  important  witnesses  could  be  found. 


EXPERIENCES  OF  A  SPECIAL   INDIAN   AGENT.         37 

I  proceeded  by  the  Frisco  Railroad  to  Red  Fork,  and 
thence  in  a  buggy  with  Mr.  C.  C.  Pickett,  who  then 
lived  at  Sac  and  Fox.  We  left  Red  Fork  at  sunrise, 
but  there  was  six  inches  of  crusted  snow  on  the  ground, 
and  it  so  impeded  our  progress  that  notwithstanding 
we  crowded  our  team  all  day,  night  overtook  us  at 
Tiger  Jack's,  many  miles  short  of  our  destination. 

Tiger  Jack  is  a  full-blood  Uchee  Indian,  and  a  mem 
ber  of  the  Creek  Legislative  Council.  He  owns  a  little 
farm,  has  a  few  fruit  trees,  lives  in  a  comfortable  log 
cabin,  and  seemed  to  be  traveling  "the  white  man's 
road  "  quite  successfully.  But  he  pretended  that  he 
could  neither  speak  nor  understand  a  word  of  English, 
and  a  grunt  was  the  only  response  he  would  make  to 
our  request  for  entertainment  for  the  night,  or  anything 
else  that  we  could  say  to  him.  A  red-headed,  scrawny 
old  Irish  freighter,  whom  we  happened  to  meet  there, 
undertook  to  plead  with  him  in  our  behalf.  He  made 
a  very  ingenious  and  eloquent  appeal,  but  when  he 
paused  Tiger  did  not  even  grunt,  but  looked  as  un 
moved  as  the  gatepost.  In  an  instant  the  mettlesome 
old  fellow  got  mad,  and  before  we  could  suppress  him 
he  had  denounced  Tiger,  among  numerous  other  things, 
as  "a  grunting  idiot,"  "a  dafe  and  dumb  haythen  na- 
gur,"  and  "no  gintleman."  He  even  threw  off  his 
coat  and  cap  and  challenged  the  Indian  to  come  out- 


38  SERVICE  ON  THE  INDIAN  RESERVATIONS. 

side  of  his  yard  and  fight.  But  even  that  failed  to 
move  Tiger.  Apparently  he  was  no  more  susceptible 
of  intimidation  than  he  was  of  persuasion. 

But  as  there  was  no  other  house  in  reach,  we  made 
up  our  minds  that  if  he  kept  us  out  of  his  cabin  that 
night  he  would  at  least  have  to  draw  a  gun  on  us. 
Seeing  us  begin  to  unharness  our  team  he  came  out 
side  and  motioned  to  us  to  drive  in  under  a  hayrick  in 
his  corral.  Then  shrugging  his  shoulders  to  show  us 
that  it  was  too  cold  for  him  to  help  us,  he  humped  him 
self  up  and  trotted  back  into  his  cabin. 

Going  in  ourselves  after  feeding  the  team,  we  found 
Tiger  sitting  before  the  fire  and  his  wife  busy  preparing 
supper  for  us.  Mrs.  Jack  is  also  a  full-blood  Indian, 
but,  having  been  educated  in  a  mission  school,  she 
speaks  English  without  embarrassment.  She  said  Tiger 
understood  English  as  well  as  she,  but  was  ashamed  to 
speak  it  before  strangers.  We  told  her  jocosely  that 
we  had  observed  his  embarrassment  before  we  came  in, 
and  had  no  doubt  that  he  was  very  bashful  in  all  lan 
guages  when  there  was  any  work  to  do. 

Our  supper  was  bountiful  and  wholesome,  including 
venison  steak  and  sofka,  the  latter  a  delicious  dish 
which  the  Creeks  make  of  hominy,  sweet  milk  and 
other  ingredients.  After  a  night  of  perfect  rest  and 
refreshing  sleep,  Mrs.  Tiger  served  us  a  breakfast  which 
I  still  remember  with  a  craving  appetite. 


EXPERIENCES  OF  A  SPECIAL   INDIAN    AGENT.          39 

We  arrived  at  Sac  and  Fox  early  in  the  afternoon, 
and  after  I  had  called  on  the  Agent  at  his  office  I  re 
ceived  an  extremely  ceremonious  call  myself  from  a 
committee  of  the  Sac  and  Fox  Council,  which  I  was 
informed  had  been  in  session  two  days  considering  a  set 
of  by-laws  which  had  been  recommended  to  them  by 
the  Department  for  the  administration  of  justice  in  the 
petty  domestic  affairs  of  the  tribe.  This  committee  was 
composed  of  Keokuk,  the  principal  chief,  Pahshepawho, 
an  under  chief,  and  a  fussy  old  fellow  whose  real  name 
I  have  forgotten,  but  whom  I  heard  Henry  Jones,  the 
half-breed  interpreter,  call  "Old  War  Department,"  a 
nickname  which  I  considered  entirely  appropriate.  They 
came,  they  said,  to  welcome  me  in  the  name  of  the 
tribe  to  their  Reservation,  and  to  invite  me  to  address 
the  Council  on  the  proposed  code  of  laws. 

Being  conducted  to  the  council  room  by  the  Agent 
and  the  committee,  I  was  introduced,  first  to  the  Coun 
cil  and  then  to  the  members  personally.  The  Council 
was  composed  of  twenty-one  members,  nineteen  of 
whom  were  in  full  Indian  costumes.  Two  members, 
Chief  Keokuk  and  his  son  Charley,  were  in  citizens' 
dress.  Keokuk  is  the  son  of  the  original  chief  of  that 
name,  and  for  whom  the  City  of  Keokuk,  Iowa,  was 
named.  He  is  a  man  of  great  natural  ability  and 
force  of  character. 


40  SERVICE  ON  THE  INDIAN  RESERVATIONS. 

After  shaking  hands  all  round,  I  proceeded  to  speak. 
I  had  to  speak  slowly  and  pause  at  the  end  of  each  sen 
tence  until  the  interpreter,  who  stood  at  my  side,  could 
repeat  it  to  the  Council  in  their  own  language. 

Soon  after  I  commenced  I  felt  myself  outraged  by 
the  conduct  of  the  majority  of  the  Council,  but  when  I 
dropped  the  subject  of  laws  and  started  in  to  say  things 
to  the  offending  members,  I  was  promptly  assured  that 
what  I  had  regarded  as  gross  discourtesy  was  in  fact 
the  very  best  form  of  Sac  and  Fox  politeness. 

Old  War  Department  occupied  a  conspicuous  seat 
immediately  in  front  of  me,  attired  in  the  most  fantastic 
costume  of  the  old-time  warrior  that  I  had  ever  seen. 
After  I  had  spoken  a  few  sentences,  he  pulled  his 
blanket  up  over  his  head  and  down  in  front  entirely  to 
the  floor,  completely  wrapping  up  and  hiding  every 
part  of  his  person  from  sight.  I  was  sure  I  had  started 
off  on  a  line  that  did  not  suit  him,  and  that  he  had 
adopted  that  method  of  excluding  the  rest  of  my  speech 
from  his  ears,  as  well  as  of  showing  his  resentment  of 
what  he  had  already  heard. 

Apparently  following  Old  War  Department's  ex 
ample,  another  very  solemn-looking  old  fellow  arose  to 
his  feet,  and  with  great  dexterity  wound  his  blanket 
tightly  around  his  body,  from  the  crown  of  his  head  to 
the  soles  of  his  feet,  and  then  stretched  himself  at  full 


^'V;>,|"j-f 

-xv  a-,;    s  \i 


42  SERVICE  ON  THE  INDIAN  RESERVATIONS. 

length  on  the  bench,  face  downward.  Others  also 
wrapped  their  heads  and  faces  up  in  their  blankets  and 
stretched  themselves  out — some  on  the  benches  and 
some  on  the  floor,  some  on  their  faces  and  some  on 
their  backs,  but  all  apparently  to  sleep  through  the 
speech.  And  so  on,  one  after  another,  all  except  Keo- 
kuk  and  three  or  four  others  settled  themselves  down 
in  the  most  undignified  and  ridiculous  postures  I  had 
ever  seen  human  beings  assume. 

It  was  more  than  I  could  stand.  Like  the  Irishman 
at  Tiger  Jack's,  I  got  mad  and  proceeded  to  make  what 
I  considered  some  very  apt  quotations  from  his  most 
pointed  and  energetic  remarks.  But  as  soon  as  the 
Agent  and  Keokuk  could  get  in  a  word  they  assured 
me  that  I  had  misconstrued  their  conduct  entirely,  and 
that  no  disrespect  was  intended.  The  offending  mem 
bers  themselves  came  forward  and  earnestly  protested 
that  instead  of  meaning  to  be  discourteous,  their  en 
deavor  had  been  to  dispose  themselves  in  such  way  as 
to  give  their  undivided  attention  to  all  I  had  to  say. 

Being  satisfied  by  the  apparent  sincerity  of  their  man 
ner  that  this  was  true,  I  cooled  down  and  proceeded 
with  my  speech.  At  its  conclusion  every  member  of 
the  Council  came  forward  and  shook  hands  with  me 
again.  Then,  after  Keokuk  and  Pahshepawho  had 
each  made  a  short  speech,  a  vote  was  taken,  which  re- 


EXPERIENCES  OF  A  SPECIAL    INDIAN    AGENT.         43 

suited    in    the    adoption    of    the    by-laws    by     a   large 
majority. 

So  far  as  the  Black  Bob  matter  was  concerned,  the 
trip  to  Sac  and  Fox  was  a  disappointment.  It  turned 
out  that  no  testimony  was  obtainable  there  or  in  that 
vicinity  that  would  throw  any  light  on  the  case  one  way 
or  the  other. 

But  being  now  on  the  ground,  I  embraced  the  oppor 
tunity  to  inspect  the  Agency,  as  it  was  my  duty  to  do. 
Under  the  jurisdiction  of  that  Agency  are  the  Sac  and 
Fox,  Pottawatomie,  Iowa  and  Kickapoo  tribes,  and  the 
Absentee  Band  of  the  Shawnee  tribe.  Major  Moses 
Neal,  of  Humboldt,  Kansas,  was  Agent,  and  I  found  all 
of  his  affairs  in  reasonably  good  condition. 

From  Sac  and  Fox  I  went  direct  to  the  Quapaw 
Agency,  which  is  situated  in  the  extreme  northeast  cor 
ner  of  the  Indian  Territory.  That  is  an  Agency  of  the 
remnants  of  eight  different  tribes — the  Quapaws,  Mo- 
docs,  Wyandottes,  Shawnees,  Peorias,  Ottawas,  Miamis 
and  Senecas.  Each  of  these  remnants  maintains  a 
tribal  organization,  speaks  a  different  language  or  dia 
lect,  and  owns  and  occupies  a  separate  Reservation. 
Many  of  them  have  made  considerable  advancement, 
are  self-supporting,  and  give  good  hope  for  future  pro 
gress.  Colonel  J.  V.  Summers,  of  Missouri,  was  the 
Agent,  and  he  seemed  to  take  an  intelligent  and  active 
interest  in  their  welfare  and  development. 


EXPERIENCES  OF  A  SPECIAL    INDIAN    AGENT.         45 

The  Modocs  at  the  Quapaw  Agency  are  the  same 
Indians  that  carried  on  the  remarkable  war  in  th~  lava 
beds  of  Oregon  in  1873,  an^  whose  chief,  Captain  Jack, 
killed  General  Canby.  Scar-Face  Charley,  Captain 
Jack's  brother,  who  succeeded  that  noted  savage  as 
chief  when  he  was  hung  for  killing  General  Canby,  is 
still  chief  of  the  tribe.  This  tribe — always  small — now 
numbers  but  twenty-two  adult  males,  and  less  than  one 
hundred  people  altogether. 

After  these  Modocs  had  been  subdued  in  the  lava 
beds  they  were  brought  from  Oregon  and  placed  on  the 
Quapaw  Reservation,  as  prisoners  of  war.  They  have 
always  been  allowed  the  liberty  of  the  Reservation,  but 
Scar-Face  said  they  had  never  become  reconciled  to 
the  Quapaw  country,  and  lived  in  the  hope  of  being 
permitted  to  return  some  day  to  their  once  free  and 
happy  homes  in  the  far-off  Oregon  mountains — a  hope, 
however,  which  I  felt  sure,  though  I  had  not  the  heart 
to  tell  him,  it  is  their  destiny  never  to  realize. 

When  I  had  inspected  the  Quapaw  Agency,  and 
taken  all  the  testimony  in  the  Black  Bob  matter  obtain 
able  in  that  locality,  I  returned  to  Muscogee,  where  I 
closed  the  investigation  on  the  2nd  of  March. 


46  SERVICE  ON  THE  INDIAN  RESERVATIONS. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

MY  FINDINGS  IN  THE  BLACK  BOB  INVESTIGATION — 
' '  SPECULATORS  "  —  AN  EX-GOVERNOR,  LAWYERS, 
BANKERS  AND  A  "PULL"  IN  WASHINGTON  — 
$284,000. 

IV  /TV  findings  in  the  Black  Bob    investigation  were 

^         substantially  as  follows: 

In  fulfillment  of  treaty  stipulations,  the  Government, 
in  1854,  allotted  two  hundred  acres  of  land  in  sev- 
eralty  to  each  head  of  a  family  in  the  Black  Bob 
Band.  These  allotments  were  made  from  the  Black 
Bob  Reservation,  which  is  situated  in  Johnson  County, 
between  sixteen  and  twenty-two  miles  from  Kansas 
City,  and  they  are  now  among  the  most  valuable  farm 
lands  in  Kansas. 

Being  in  the  very  midst  of  the  terrible  guerrilla  war 
fare  which  began  on  the  Missouri-Kansas  border  as  early 
as  1857,  a°d  was  kept  up  with  unabated  ferocity  until  the 
close  of  the  Great  Civil  War  between  the  States,  the 
Black  Bobs  suffered  heavily  from  the  devastations  of 
both  sides.  Long  before  the  close  of  that  fierce  and  de- 


EXPERIENCES  OF  A  SPECIAL   INDIAN   AGENT.         47 

structive  struggle  they  had  been  despoiled  of  all  their 
live  stock  and  other  movable  property.  Finally,  to  es 
cape  from  the  atrocities  of  war  so  frequently  happening 
in  their  midst,  and  in  which  their  lives  even  were  im 
periled,  they  abandoned  their  homes  and  sought  and 
obtained  refuge  among  the  friendly  tribes  in  the  Indian 
Territory. 

Between  the  years  1867  and  1873,  the  Indians  not 
having  returned,  and  not  being  expected  to  ever  do  so, 
white  settlers  took  possession  of  their-  lands,  and  have 
occupied  them  ever  since.  This  they  have  done  with 
an  honest  purpose,  and  in  the  confident  expectation 
that  the  Government  would  restore  the  lands  to  the 
public  domain,  subject  to  purchase  or  homestead  entry 
by  whites,  or  ascertain  by  judicial  decree  who  were 
the  heirs  of  the  original  allottees,  and  provide  a  plan 
whereby  the  settlers  might  purchase  direct  from  them. 

No  patents  had  ever  been  issued  to  the  allottees  for 
their  respective  allotments,  and  of  course  they  could 
make  no  conveyance  to  individuals  until  that  was  done. 
But  in  the  meantime  nearly  all  of  the  original  allottees 
"had  died.  In  their  cases,  of  course,  patents  had  to  issue, 
not  in  their  names,  but  to  their  heirs  or  legal  representa 
tives.  For  this  reason  it  was  necessary  to  ascertain  and 
determine  by  judicial  decree  who  were  the  heirs  of  each 
of  the  deceased  allottees.  To  provide  for  this,  Congress 


48  SERVICE  ON  THE  INDIAN  RESERVATIONS. 

passed  an  Act  authorizing  and  directing  a  suit  to  be 
brought  in  the  United  States  Court  at  Topeka,  to  run 
in  the  name  of  the  United  States  against  the  Black  Bob 
Band  of  Shawnee  Indians.  In  compliance  with  this 
Act  the  Attorney  General  of  the  United  States  ap 
pointed  two  special  assistants,  one,  a  lawyer  of  Wyan- 
dotte,  to  represent  the  Government,  and  the  other,  a 
lawyer  of  Lawrence,  to  represent  the  Indians.  Both 
of  these  attorneys  were  paid  by  the  Government,  each 
receiving,  as  I  recollect,  the  sum  of  $5,000. 

The  suit  was  brought  and  a  decree  rendered  in  ac 
cordance  with  the  genealogy  of  the  heirs,  which  the 
attorney  for  the  Indians  had  prepared  for  that  purpose. 
The  suit  was  a  mere  formality,  no  resistance  being  made 
to  any  of  the  proceedings,  and  the  decree  being  agreed 
to  by  both  sides.  But,  however  quietly  and  easily  ob 
tained,  this  decree  settled  the  question  of  heirships,  and 
perhaps  correctly,  and  the  patents  were  issued  accord 
ingly. 

But  instead  of  the  patents  being  transmitted  to  the 
Indian  Agent  for  delivery  to  the  Indians,  as  they  ought 
to  have  been,  they  were  handed  over  to  the  attorney 
for  the  Government.  They  were  not  even  intrusted  to 
the  attorney  for  the  Indians.  The  influence  of  the  dis 
tinguished  United  States  Senator  from  Atchison  at  that 
time  was  successfully  invoked  to  thus  divert  these 


EXPERIENCES  OF  A  SPECIAL    INDIAN    AGENT.         49 

patents  from  their  proper  channel  into  the  possession 
and  control  of  a  man  who  sustained  no  friendly  relation, 
either  official  or  professional,  to  the  Indians. 

But  a  conspiracy  had  been  formed  to  buy  the  land 
from  under  the  settlers  by  any  means  that  could  be 
successfully  employed,  and  an  incalculable  advantage 
was  to  be  gained  by  this  unprecedented  diversion  of 
the  patents.  From  the  date  of  their  appointment  these 
attorneys  had  held  frequent  confidential  meetings  with 
each  other,  and  with  an  ex-Governor  of  Kansas,  who 
resided  at  Leavenworth.  In  fact,  their  conferences  be 
gan  long  before  their  appointment,  and  the  proof  is 
evident  that  their  plans  were  laid  prior  to  that  time. 

Their  scheme  was  to  go  down  into  the  Indian  Terri 
tory,  hunt  up  the  Indians,  and  buy  the  land  themselves. 
The  Indians  had  but  a  vague  idea  of  their  ownership  of 
the  land,  were  totally  ignorant  of  its  value,  and  these 
"speculators"  correctly  reasoned  that  they  could  se 
cure  it  for  a  nominal  consideration.  Then,  invested 
with  absolute  title,  they  could  extort  full  value  from  the 
settlers,  and  even  more,  for  their  respective  homes,  or 
compel  them  to  vacate  and  forfeit  all  their  improve 
ments. 

This  being  their  purpose,  it  would  not  do,  of  course, 
for  the  Indians  to  get  possession  of  the  patents.  In 
that  case  each  Indian  would  know  which  particular 


50  SERVICE  ON  THE  INDIAN  RESERVATIONS. 

tract  belonged  to  him,  and  he  could  sell  it  to  the  man 
who  offered  him  the  highest  price  for  it.  The  settlers 
would  thereby  be  enabled  to  compete  with  the  "specu 
lators,"  and  competition  must  be  avoided,  even  if  an 
unsuspecting  and  too  confiding  United  States  Senator 
did  have  to  be  "  pulled  "  to  "work"  Indian  Commis 
sioner  Price.  A  little  matter  like  that  was  not  to  stand 
in  the  way  of  success  at  all. 

In  land  transactions  Indians  are  slow  and  capricious, 
and  to  make  purchases  from  so  large  a  number,  scattered 
over  an  area  of  country  two  hundred  miles  in  extent, 
was  an  undertaking  which  must  have  required  extraor 
dinary  patience  and  determination.  But  after  two  years 
of  persistent  efforts,  and  an  outlay  of  thousands  of  dol 
lars  in  the  way  of  expenses,  these  "speculators"  se 
cured  deeds  to  nearly  ten  thousand  acres  at  $3  per  acre. 

In  consequence  of  the  vacillation  and  procrastination 
of  the  Indians,  the  Governor  and  the  lawyers  had  to 
make  a  great  many  trips  to  different  places  in  the  Ter 
ritory,  and  in  doing  so  they  always  traveled  together, 
invariably  stopped  at  the  same  house,  all  occupied  the 
same  room  when  practicable,  and  generally  two  of  them 
slept  in  the  same  bed,  and  often  had  what  one  witness 
described  as  "  a  rattling  good  time." 

The  purchases  were  all  made  in  the  name  of  the 
Governor,  with  money  furnished  by  a  Leavenworth 


EXPERIENCES  OF  A  SPECIAL   INDIAN   AGENT.          51 

bank.  The  Governor  was  the  sole  grantee  in  each  of 
the  deeds.  But  whenever  an  Indian  came  forward  to 
sign  a  deed,  the  attorney  for  the  Indians  was  on  hand 
with  his  genealogy  of  the  tribe  to  see  that  all  the  heirs 
to  any  particular  tract  joined  in  the  conveyance,  and 
that  no  money  was  thrown  away  on  strangers.  And  at 
such  interesting  moments  the  attorney  for  the  Govern 
ment  was  always  present  with  the  patents,  and  simul 
taneously  with  the  signing  of  the  deeds  the  Indians 
were  required  to  also  sign  receipts  to  him  for  their 
patents.  But  the  patents  were  never  in  fact  delivered  to 
the  Indians,  but  in  every  instance,  except  one,  they  were 
handed  to  the  Governor.  The  exception  was  in  the 
case  of  a  rather  pugnacious  young  Indian  named  Billie 
Williams.  He  threatened  to  break  into  their  room  and 
"whup  the  whole  outfit"  if  they  did  not  give  him  his 
patent.  They  gave  it  to  him,  paid  him  $1,000  extra 
for  his  two  hundred  acres,  patted  him  on  the  back  and 
begged  him  to  say  nothing  about  it. 

Notwithstanding  the  Governor  was  ostensibly  the  sole 
purchaser,  it  was  clear  that  the  attorney  for  the  Indians 
was  always  present  with  his  genealogy  of  the  tribe  to 
guard  him  against  the  scylla  of  doubtful  heirships,  and 
the  attorney  for  the  Government  was  always  there  so 
manipulating  the  delivery  of  the  patents  as  to  steer  him 
clear  of  the  charybdis  of  the  competition  and  opposition 
of  the  settlers. 


52  SERVICE  ON  THE  INDIAN  RESERVATIONS. 

No  services  in  the  business  of  buying  or  selling  the 
land  were  required  of  them,  or  even  contemplated,  un 
der  their  appointment  from  the  Attorney  General.  On 
the  contrary,  such  services  as  they  were  rendering  to 
the  Governor  were  altogether  repugnant  to  the  nature 
of  the  duties  incumbent  upon  them  as  attorneys  to  con 
duct  the  lawsuit. 

And  certainly  they  were  not  devoting  months  and 
months  of  their  time,  and  staking  whatever  of  good 
reputation  they  may  have  had,  to  thus  facilitate  the 
Governor  to  obtain  and  profit  by  an  undue  advantage 
over  both  the  Indians  and  the  settlers,  without  reward. 

And  surely  there  was  room  for  reward  in  the  pros 
pective  profits  of  the  "speculation."  Three  dollars 
per  acre  was  the  consideration  named  in  each  of  the 
deeds — less  than  $29,000  in  all.  But  upon  a  personal 
inspection  of  the  land,  as  well  as  from  the  testimony  of 
competent  witnesses,  I  found  it  worth  from  $10  to  $35 
per  acre,  or  an  average  of  $19.50  per  acre,  exclusive  of 
the  improvements  made  by  the  settlers,  and  an  average 
of  $29.40  per  acre,  or  an  aggregate  of  $284,000,  in 
cluding  the  improvements. 

Fortunately  a  clause  in  the  treaty  between  the  Shaw- 
nees  and  the  United  States  provided  that  no  convey 
ance  by  any  member  of  the  tribe  should  be  valid  until 
it  was  approved  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior.  The 


EXPERIENCES  OF  A  SPECIAL   INDIAN    AGENT.         53 

deeds  in  this  case  were  presented  at  the  Department  for 
approval,  not  by  the  Governor,  the  ostensible  grantee, 
himself,  but  by  the  attorney  for  the  Government.  And 
he  did  this  in  writing  as  attorney  for  the  Governor,  and 
not  as  attorney  for  the  United  States.  But  before  me 
he  testified  that  he  "just  happened  to  be  going  to 
Washington  to  see  some  Union  Pacific  Railroad  people 
in  New  York  and  Boston,  and  just  carried  the  deeds 
along  as  a  gratuitous  favor  to  the  Governor  because  he 
had  free  transportation  over  the  railroads  and  the  Gov 
ernor  had  not."  Evidently  forgetting  this,  the  Governor 
himself  testified  before  me  a  few  days  later  that  he 
"did  not  know  but  that  some  outside  influence  might 
be  necessary  to  procure  their  approval,  in  which  event 
he  knew  this  attorney  would  be  the  handiest  man  he 
could  get,  as  he  had  a  political  'pull'  in  Washington." 

Agreeably  to  my  findings  as  here  outlined,  I  recom 
mended  that  the  deeds  be  not  approved,  that  the 
conduct  of  the  attorneys  be  reported  to  the  Department 
of  Justice,  and  that  they  be  debarred  from  practicing 
before  the  Department  of  the  Interior. 

My  recommendation  as  to  the  deeds  was  concurred 
in  by  Indian  Commissioner  Atkins  and  adopted  by 
Secretary  Lamar,  and  they  were  never  approved.  The 
penalty  which  this  entailed  upon  the  "speculators"  was 
the  loss  of  every  dollar  that  they  had  "invested"  in 
the  "enterprise." 


54  SERVICE  ON  THE  INDIAN  RESERVATIONS. 

I  was  never  advised  what  action,  if  any,  was  taken  in 
reference  to  the  attorneys;  and,  as  I  had  performed 
my  duty  in  the  case  and  was  done  with  it,  I  never 
cared  to  know. 

More  than  a  year  afterwards,  however,  the  Senator 
from  Wyandotte  introduced  a  resolution  into  the  Kan 
sas  State  Senate,  which  was  adopted,  memorializing 
the  President  of  the  United  States  to  place  the  State 
of  Arkansas  under  martial  law,  because  of  the  assas 
sination  of  a  prominent  politician  in  that  State. 
The  Senator  from  Wyandotte  being  the  attorney  for  the 
Government  and  the  man  who,  the  Governor  said,  had 
a  political  "pull"  in  Washington,  the  introduction  of 
this  resolution  reminded  me  in  a  characteristic  manner 
that,  although  he  may  have  been  reported  to  the  De 
partment  of  Justice  and  debarred  from  practicing  before 
the  Department  of  the  Interior,  he  was  still  masquer 
ading  in  the  toga  of  a  State  Senator,  and  guiding  the 
destinies  of  the  Republican  party  in  Kansas  as  Chair 
man  of  the  State  Central  Committee,  just  as  he  had 
been  doing  for  a  great  many  years  before. 


EXPERIENCES  OF  A  SPECIAL   INDIAN   AGENT.         55 


CHAPTER  VII. 

TO  OKLAHOMA — CLAY  COUNTY,  TEXAS — TRIP  THROUGH 
THE  COMANCHE  RESERVATION  —  FORT  SILL — LONG- 
HORN  MAVERICK,  THE  UNPAID  HACK  DRIVER— HIS 
PISTOL  PRACTICE  FOR  PAY  DAY. 

A  T   the  close  of   the  Black  Bob  investigation  I  was 

ordered    to    Oklahoma    to    expel    the   intruders 

from  that  much  coveted  but  forbidden  country.       From 

Muscogee     I     proceeded    by    rail   to    Henrietta,     Clay 

County,  Texas. 

From  Henrietta  to  Fort  Reno,  in  Oklahoma,  a  dis 
tance  of  one  hundred  and  fifty  miles,  the  only  means  of 
transportation  was  the  vehicle  upon  which  the  mail  was 
carried,  and  which  I  had  been  informed  was  a  four- 
horse  Concord  stagecoach.  But  to  Fort  Sill,  seventy 
miles,  it  was  a  two-horse  canvas-covered  device  of  tor 
ture  which  has  been  appropriately  named  "the  jerky." 

Boarding  "the  jerky"  at  Henrietta  just  at  dawn,  I 
found  myself  in  company  with  Dr.  W.  W.  Graves,  of 
Whitesboro,  Texas,  who  was  en  route  to  the  Kiowa, 


56  SERVICE  ON  THE  INDIAN  RESERVATIONS. 

Comanche  and  Wichita  Agency  to  take  the  place  of 
Agency  physician.  He  proved  to  be  an  agreeable  trav 
eling  companion. 

Clay  County  was  sparsely  settled.  Between  the  Big 
Wichita  and  Little  Wichita  Rivers  we  passed  through 
a  prairie  dog  town  several  miles  long.  "The  man  with 
the  hoe"  had  not  then  made  his  appearance  there  very 
numerously,  and  the  cattle  barons  seemed  to  be  indeed 
monarchs  of  all  the  range  they  could  ride  and  all  the 
cattle  they  could  round  up.  But  it  is  a  magnificent 
country — entirely  too  good  to  be  given  up  to  grazing — 
and  since  that  date  settlers  have  swarmed  into  it,  forcing 
the  maverick  lords  to  yield  it  up  to  them  and  drift  fur 
ther  west,  or  go  out  of  business. 

At  Charlie's  Ford  we  crossed  Red  River  and  entered 
the  Kiowa,  Comanche  and  Apache  Reservation.  Thence 
to  Fort  Sill  our  route  lay  through  one  of  the  richest 
and  most  beautiful  countries  that  I  have  ever  seen. 
The  first  fifteen  miles  was  up  the  valley  of  West  Cache 
Creek.  Then  crossing  a  broad,  smooth  prairie,  we 
entered  the  valley  of  East  Cache,  and  followed  it  to 
Fort  Sill.  It  was  a  splendid  spring  day,  the  grass  was 
fresh  and  luxuriant,  and  from  morning  till  night  there 
was  an  unbroken  expanse  of  virgin  prairie — rolling 
ridges,  broad  valleys,  and  streams  of  running  water. 

Our  long  day's  journey  terminated  at  Fort  Sill  just 


58  SERVICE  ON  THE  INDIAN  RESERVATIONS. 

in  time  for  us  to  hear  the  boom  of  the  sunset  gun  and 
see  the  flag  of  our  country  slowly  descend  from  the  tall 
flagstaff  in  the  center  of  the  parade  ground,  to  be  furled 
for  the  night  and  then  hoisted  again  at  sunrise. 

Fort  Sill  occupies  a  picturesque  site  at  the  confluence 
of  Cache  and  Medicine  Bluff  Creeks,  at  the  eastern  ex 
tremity  of  the  Wichita  Mountains.  It  was  established 
in  1869,  when  the  Comanches,  Kiowas,  Apaches, 
Cheyennes,  Arapahoes,  Pawnees  and  Sioux — in  fact  all 
the  plains  Indians — were  on  the  warpath.  It  is  built 
of  blue  limestone,  contains  quarters  for  ten  companies, 
and  is  one  of  the  three  principal  Posts  in  the  Oklahoma 
and  Indian  Territories- — Fort  Reno  and  Fort  Supply 
being  the  other  two.  The  permanent  garrison  consists 
of  four  troops  of  cavalry  and  three  companies  of  infantry. 

At  noon  the  next  day  we  passed  Anadarko,  the  seat 
of  the  Agency  for  the  Comanches,  Kiowas,  Apaches, 
Wichitas  and  Caddoes,  which  is  situated  on  the  south 
bank  of  the  Washita  River,  thirty-five  miles  north  of 
Fort  Sill. 

Dr.  Graves  stopped  at  Anadarko,  and  I  thought  I 
was  going  to  have  a  lonesome  trip  from  there  on  to 
Fort  Reno,  but  at  the  relay  station  on  Spring  Creek  I 
got  a  new  driver,  who  furnished  me  plenty  of  amuse 
ment.  The  drivers  met  there  and  exchanged  outfits, 
each  doubling  back  on  his  own  drive. 


EXPERIENCES  OF  A  SPECIAL   INDIAN   AGENT.         59 

I  was  struck  with  the  comical  appearance,  grim  hu 
mor  and  droll  philosophy  of  my  new  driver,  and  soon 
became  much  interested  in  him.  His  name,  he  said, 
was  Longhorn  Maverick.  He  seemed  desirous  that  I 
should  know  that  driving  the  mail  was  not  his  usual 
occupation.  He  said  he  was  a  cowboy  by  profession, 
but  being  stranded,  financially,  a  few  weeks  before,  he 
was  forced  to  come  down  temporarily  to  driving  that  old 
buckboard.  It  was  his  intention,  he  said,  to  "resign" 
as  soon  as  he  could  make  the  contractor  pay  him  for  his 
labor,  and  never  be  caught  at  that  employment  again. 

Manifestly  Mr.  Longhorn  Maverick  had  no  confidence 
in  his  employer,  was  ashamed  of  his  outfit,  and  believed 
that  if  he  ever  got  any  pay  for  his  services  he  would 
have  to  fight  for  it.  He  said  that  in  fording  the  Cana 
dian  River  as  he  came  down  that  morning,  he  drove 
into  a  deep  hole  that  had  been  washed  out  since  the 
evening  before,  and  got  a  ducking — in  fact  narrowly 
escaped  drowning.  Then  when  his  team  got  where  he 
thought  they  could  touch  bottom,  they  came  very  near 
getting  stuck  in  quicksand.  These  accidents,  added 
to  other  annoyances,  present  and  prospective,  had  put 
him  in  an  extremely  bad  humor.  He  was  sarcastic  and 
sullen,  but  he  looked  so  exceedingly  funny  in  his  sullen- 
ness  that  I  could  not  forbear  to  play  a  little  on  his  feel 
ings  occasionally 


60  SERVICE  ON  THE  INDIAN  RESERVATIONS. 

Without  our  consent  we  had  been  transferred  at  Fort 
Sill  from  "the  jerky"  to  an  old  buckboard.  This  ve 
hicle  was  so  old  and  dilapidated  that  no  person  except 
an  impecunious  mail  contractor  would  have  acknowl 
edged  its  ownership.  Mr.  Maverick  told  me  confiden 
tially  that  it  had  descended  to  the  contractor  as  an 
"heirloom"  from  his  grandmother.  Mr.  Maverick  also 
informed  me  that  the  contractor  was  "tainted  with 
aristocracy,"  and  the  "heirloom"  having  been  his 
beloved  ancestor's  family  carriage,  he  prized  it  as  a 
pe.arl  of  great  price.  He  even  admonished  me  that  a 
rule  of  the  contractor  required  all  persons  to  treat  it 
with  the  respect  and  reverence  due  a  relic  of  such  sacred 
associations,  and  that  every  person  who  disregarded  that 
edict  was  forever  debarred  from  laying  his  irreverent 
hands  on  the  "heirloom,"  either  as  passenger  or  driver. 
And  then  in  mock  emphasis  of  this  admonition,  Mr. 
Maverick  irreverently  kicked  off  the  remainder  of  the 
dashboard,  and,  drawing  his  pistol,  spitefully  shot  a 
spoke  out  of  one  of  the  wheels. 

Mr.  Maverick  had  also  learned,  he  said,  that  the 
contractor  was  a  very  economical  man — so  economical 
that  he  never  paid  his  drivers  a  cent  for  their  services. 
This  was  a  rule  from  which  he  had  never  been  known 
to  deviate.  His  trick  was  to  work  the  drivers  as  long 
as  he  could  on  promises,  and  then  set  them  adrift 
moneyless,  threadbare  and  hungry. 


EXPERIENCES  OF  A  SPECIAL   INDIAN   AGENT.         61 

After  some  reflection  Mr.  Maverick  quietly  assured 
me  that  other  drivers  might  submit  to  that  sort  of  treat 
ment  if  they  chose  to  do  so,  but  whenever  he  was  so 
constrained  to  tender  his  resignation,  rt  would  be  ac 
companied  by  several  very  pointed  personal  remarks. 
In  fact,  if  an  honorable  exception  was  not  made  in  his 
case,  the  contractor' s  son  Pete  would  probably  inherit  his 
granny' s  carriage  before  the  close  of  the  next  pay  day . 
And  with  that  ominous  observation  Mr.  Maverick  drew 
his  pistol  again  and  shot  out  another  spoke. 

As  we  trotted  down  into  the  broad  channel  of  the 
treacherous  Canadian  River,  Mr.  Maverick  looked  at 
me  with  a  peculiar  expression  from  the  corners  of  his 
remarkably  expressive  eyes  and  asked : 

"Preacher?" 

"Nope.      Why?     Want  to  get  married?"  I  answered. 

"Git  married  nothin' .  Thought  if  you  was  a  preacher 
you'd  better  be  prayin'." 

"Anything  about  to  happen?" 

"Ninety-nine  chances  to  one  there  is." 

"That's  almost  unanimous.  Want  me  to  pray  for 
you  anyhow?" 

"Prayers  can't  do  me  no  good.  Better  be  shellin' 
down  the  corn  for  yourself,  though." 

"What's  the  difficulty?" 

"This  blamed  river." 


62  SERVICE  ON  THE  INDIAN  RESERVATIONS. 

"Nice  looking  river.      What  have  you  against  it?" 

"Too  dad  burned  unreliable." 

"In  what  respect?" 

"Quicksand!  •    Holes!" 

"Bad?" 

"Ninety-nine  chances  to  one  we'll  get  stuck,  and  if 
we  do  it  would  take  a  hundred  yoke  of  steers  to  pull  us 
out.  Besides  that,  we'd  sink  out  of  sight  in  twenty 
minutes." 

"All  right.  We'll  go  in  on  the  one  chance  in  a 
hundred.  Drive  slow,  and  give  your  team  plenty  of 
time  to  drink  and  cool  off.  And  before  you  start  in, 
dorft  yoit  think  this  precious  old  "heirloom"  is  still  in- 
cumbered  with  too  many  spokes?" 

The  expression  which  this  answer  produced  on  Long- 
horn's  face  showed  plainly  that  he  understood  that  I 
knew  the  really  dangerous  character  of  the  stream,  and 
was  only  playing  with  him.  Giving  me  only  looks  for 
a  rejoinder,  he  plunged  in  and  crowded  his  team  through 
under  whip,  and,  to  our  happy  surprise,  without  the 
slightest  mishap. 

But  the  Canadian  River  is  really  the  most  dangerous 
stream  in  the  Territory.  I  had  been  dreading  it,  and 
now  finding  myself  safely  across,  although  not  a  preacher, 
it  was  a  relief  to  me  to  breathe  grateful  thanks  to  the 
Supreme  Protector  of  all  wayfaring  mortals  for  holding 


EXPERIENCES  OF  A  SPECIAL    INDIAN    AGENT.         63 

us  in  the  hollow  of  His  hand  through  both  the  holes 
and  the  quicksand. 

Longhorn  said  he  would  rather  go  back  to  Western 
Texas  and  live  on  mezquite  beans  the  balance  of  his 
days  than  be  compelled  to  cross  that  river  every  day 
for  a  year. 

An  hour  after  dark  we  arrived  at  Fort  Reno,  where 
I  found  good  accommodations  with  Mr.  Evans,  the 
post  trader. 


64  SERVICE  ON  THE  INDIAN  RESERVATIONS. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

AT  FORT  RENO — THE  COMMANDING  OFFICER  AND  MY 
SELF  A  HOPELESS  MISFIT — EX  PARTE  "CO-OPERA 
TION" —  TO  OSAGE  AGENCY  —  MOURNING  AND 
DANCING. 

\  S  stated  in  the  preceding  chapter,  my  business  at 
**•  •  Fort  Reno  was  to  attend  to  the  expulsion  of 
cattle  and  boomers  from  Oklahoma 

What  was  then  known  as  Oklahoma  was  the  section 
of  country  situated  almost  exactly  in  the  center  of  the 
Indian  Territory,  as  it  then  existed,  which  was  opened 
to  white  settlement  in  1889,  and  from  which  the  Coun 
ties  of  Oklahoma,  Cleveland,  Kingfisher,  Canadian, 
Logan  and  Payne  have  since  been  formed. 

Being  owned  by  Indians  it  was  not  subject  to  settle 
ment  or  occupancy  by  whites.  But  the  Indians  did 
not  occupy  it  themselves — having  relinquished  that 
right  to  the  Government  years  before — and  whites  had 
now  invaded  it,  and  were  grazing  cattle  and  making 
settlements,  regardless  of  the  law. 

It  had  been  reported  to  the  Department  that  there 


EXPERIENCES  OF  A  SPECIAL   INDIAN    AGENT.         65 

were  several  hundred  of  the  invading  settlers,  or  boom 
ers,  as  they  were  called,  and  fifty  thousand  head  of  the 
intruding  cattle.  My  orders  were  to  notify  these  in 
truders  to  vacate  by  a  given  day,  and  to  call  on  the 
commanding  officer  at  Fort  Reno  to  send  troops  to  evict 
all  boomers  who  failed  to  obey,  and  drive  out  all  cattle 
not  removed  by  the  owners. 

The  commanding  officer  at  Fort  Reno  had  been  fur 
nished  with  copies  of  my  orders,  and  ordered  to  co 
operate  with,  and  aid  and  assist  me  to  carry  them  out. 
These  orders  were  not  free  from  ambiguities  and 
apparent  contradictions,  but  as  I  alone  was  responsible 
for  their  execution,  Major  Emile  Adam,  whom  I  found 
temporarily  in  command,  left  the  construction  of  them 
entirely  to  me,  with  the  cordial  assurance  that  he  stood 
ready  to  respond  to  any  call  that  I  might  make  on  him 
for  troops. 

Major  Adam  agreed  with  me  that  the  only  practicable 
plan  consistent  with  my  orders  was  the  one  which  I  had 
adopted.  Captain  J.  M.  Lee,  of  the  Army,  who  was 
at  the  time  in  charge  of  the  contiguous  Reservation  of 
the  Cheyennes  and  Arapahoes  as  Acting  Agent,  and 
with  whom  I  was  directed  to  confer  for  advice  and 
information,  also  concurred  in  my  plan.  Indeed  my 
recollection  is  that  he  suggested  it  to  me  and  commended 
it  to  Major  Adam. 

(3) 


66  SERVICE  ON  THE  INDIAN  RESERVATIONS. 

But  before  any  step  had  been  taken,  except  publica 
tion  of  notice  to  the  intruders,  Colonel  E.  V.  Sumner, 
the  permanent  commanding  officer,  who  had  been 
absent  at  Fort  Leavenworth,  returned  to  the  Post  and 
resumed  command.  His  arrival  was  signalized  by  an 
instantaneous  cessation  of  co-operation  between  the 
commanding  officer  and  myself.  It  was  demonstrated 
to  my  satisfaction  in  my  first  interview  with  him,  though 
a  brief  one,  that  there  would  be  no  co-operation  or 
harmony  between  us.  It  was  apparent  that  as  co- 
operators  we  were  a  hopeless  misfit.  Disapproving  the' 
plan  which  I  had  adopted  he  refused  to  assist  me  to 
carry  it  out.  On  the  other  hand,  the  plan  which  he 
proposed  was  more  heroic  than  was  permissible  under 
my  orders,  as  I  understood  them,  and  also,  as  I  thought, 
unnecessarily  harsh  on  the  intruders.  For  that  reason 
I  could  not  sanction  it,  or  suffer  it  to  be  enforced  on 
my  responsibility.  It  soon  became  manifest  that  our 
disagreement  was  irreconcilable.  Telegraphing  that 
information  to  the  Department,  I  asked  to  be  relieved 
from  further  service  in  the  matter,  which  was  promptly 
done,  and  I  was  ordered  on  to  Osage  Agency. 

During  my  stay  at  Fort  Reno  I  became  pleasantly 
acquainted  with  Captains  A,  E.  Woodson  and  E.  M. 
Hayes,  Lieutenant  A.  C.  Macomb,  and  several  other 
officers,  from  each  of  whom  I  received  courteous  atten- 


EXPERIENCES  OF  A  SPECIAL  INDIAN  AGENT.       67 

tions.  They  all  told  me  that  "co-operation"  between 
Colonel  Sumner  and  myself  was  altogether  unlike  the 
usual  "co-operation"  between  him  and  themselves. 
Being  their  commanding  officer,  it  was  his  habit,  they 
said,  to  require  of  them  a  prodigious  amount  of  the  only 
kind  of  "co-operation"  that  he  seemed  to  know  any 
thing  about.  "Co-operation"  between  him  and  myself 
was  of  a  strictly  negative  kind — a  case,  possibly,  of  ex 
treme  stubbornness  on  both  sides.  But  as  between  him 
and  them,  "co-operation"  partook  much  less  of  the 
nature  of  a  "deadlock."  It  was  more  ex  parte,  it 
must  be  confessed,  but  it  was  also  much  more  expedi 
tious.  They  said  that  when  he  said  "co-operate"  to 
them  they  always  dropped  everything  else  and  "co-op 
erated"  with  him  right  there  on  the  spot,  and  generally 
in  double-quick  time.  They  said  the  "privilege"  of 
doing  this  was  about  the  only  one  they  had  that  was 
not  liable  to  be  denied  them  any  day,  and  they  appre 
ciated  it,  because  the  surgeon  had  often  advised  them 
that  it  might  impair  their  health  to  dwell  permanently 
in  the  guardhouse. 

Proceeding  by  way  of  Caldwell  and  Arkansas  City, 
Kansas,  I  arrived  at  Osage  Agency  while  all  the  Indians 
on  the  Reservation  were  in  camp  there,  awaiting  an 
annuity  payment.  The  Agent  had  recently  assumed 
charge  of  the  Agency,  and  it  was  soon  manifest  to  me 


68  SERVICE  ON  THE  INDIAN  RESERVATIONS. 

that  his  friends  had  made  a  great  mistake  in  procuring 
his  appointment.  He  had  been  colonel  of  a  regiment 
of  Michigan  cavalry  during  the  war,  and  commanded  a 
brigade  in  one  of  the  Virginia  campaigns,  in  which  he 
distinguished  himself  for  skill  and  gallantry.  At  that 
time,  and  for  many  years  afterward,  he  doubtless  pos 
sessed  great  mental  vigor  and  executive  ability.  But 
he  had  never  had  experience  in  the  management  of 
Indians,  and  was  now  too  old  to  learn.  Indeed  he  was 
too  much  enfeebled,  both  physically  and  mentally,  by 
age  and  ill-health,  to  have  properly  discharged  the 
duties  of  Agent,  even  if  he  had  known  how. 

The  Osages  are  not  refractory  Indians,  but  they  had 
not  been  slow  to  detect  either  the  lack  of  experience  or 
the  infirmities  of  age,  and  by  wheedling  and  encroach 
ment,  had  just  about  taken  charge  of  both  the  Agency 
and  the  Agent.  He  had  suffered  them  to  camp  all 
around  his  house.  Not  less  than  one  hundred  and  fifty 
tepees  were  crowded  against  his  yard  fence.  Inhabiting 
these  tepees  were  at  least  seven  hundred  and  fifty 
Indians,  and  an  equal  number  of  dogs. 

It  was  also  the  mourning  season  of  the  Osages — a 
time  when  all  the  tribe,  at  regular  hours  during  a  cer 
tain  number  of  days,  mourn  for  all  who  have  died 
during  the  preceding  year.  But  the  reader  must  not 
get  the  impression  that  these  periodical  seasons  of 


EXPERIENCES  OF  A  SPECIAL   INDIAN   AGENT.         69 

mourning  ever  interfere  with  the  dancing  season,  which 
comes  in  with  the  new  year  and  goes  out  with  the  old, 
or,  in  other  words,  is  perpetual.  The  terrible  wail  of  tne 
mourner  is  heard  only  once  a  year,  except  when  a  death 
occurs,  but  the  sound  of  the  tom-tom  may  be  heard 
somewhere  on  the  Reservation  every  day  in  the  year. 

Those  who  had  domiciled  themselves  as  neighbors  of 
the  Agent  were  doing  their  full  duty  at  both  mourning 
and  dancing.  Both  "exercises"  seemed  to  be  con 
ducted  by  an  established  programme,  with  Chief  Black 
Dog  as  master  of  ceremonies. 

At  dark  the  tom-toms  were  brought  out  and  the 
dancing  commenced,  and  blended  with  the  monotonous 
tom-tom  of  the  drums,  and  the  merry  ki-yi  of  the 
dancers,  were  the  fighting  and  barking  of  the  dogs. 

This  was  kept  up  until  midnight,  and,  as  the  reader 
may  imagine,  while  it  continued  sleep  was  impossible 
in  the  Agent's  house  or  any  where  near  it. 

At  3  o'clock  the  mourning  began,  and  then  it  seemed 
that  pandemonium  had  broken  loose  in  earnest.  The 
uproar  was  started  by  a  few  crones — professional 
mourners — but  in  ten  minutes  all  the  Indians  and  dogs 
in  camp  had  joined  in  and  were  wailing  and  howling  as 
if  the  judgment  day  was  at  hand.  This  was  continued 
half  an  hour  or  more,  and  then  the  camp  became  com 
paratively  quiet  until  daylight. 


70  SERVICE  ON  THE  INDIAN  RESERVATIONS. 

At  daybreak  the  squaws  commenced  coming  to  the 
hydrant  in  the  Agent's  yard  to  fill  their  water  pails, 
and  then  there  was  no  more  rest  for  the  weary,  or  sleep 
for  the  sleepy.  Then  when  the  Agent's  family  sat 
down  to  their  meals  enough  of  his  wards  flattened  their 
noses  against  the  windows  to  almost  exclude  the  day 
light  from  the  dining  room. 

This  had  been  the  situation  of  the  Agent  and  his 
family  for  three  or  four  days  when  I  arrived,  and  it  had 
driven  him  almost  to  distraction.  He  said  he  had  suf 
fered  the  Indians  to  thus  intrude  upon  his  premises 
because,  being  a  new  Agent,  he  wanted  to  show  them 
that  he  felt  a  paternal  interest  in  their  welfare  and  hap 
piness,  and  would  even  sacrifice  his  own  comfort  and 
that  of  his  family  to  promote  theirs.  I  expressed  my 
approval  of  his  motives,  and  forbore  to  criticise  his 
judgment  except  to  mildly  suggest  that  he  probably 
could  have  made  even  a  more  favorable  impression  by 
taking  fifteen  or  twenty  families  into  his  house  as  guests. 

The  truth  is  I  pitied  the  unfortunate  old  man  in  his 
troubles,  and  proffered,  purely  as  a  favor  to  him,  be 
cause  it  was  not  my  duty,  to  make  the  Indians  move 
their  camp  myself.  But,  notwithstanding  he  was  wor 
ried  almost  to  desperation,  he  was  afraid  it  would 
impair  his  influence  over  them  even  for  me  to  take 
action. 


EXPERIENCES  OF  A  SPECIAL    INDIAN   AGENT.          71 

Of  course,  without  the  slightest  doubt  of  the  Agent's 
honesty,  in  the  light  of  this  error  of  judgment,  and  other 
evidences  of  incapacity  and  want  of  tact,  I  could  not  be 
hopeful  of  his  success.  Nevertheless,  I  was  determined 
to  do  my  duty  by  him.  I  made  a  thorough  inspection 
of  his  Agency,  instructed  him  as  far  as  practicable  in 
regard  to  his  duties,  and  made  such  recommendations 
to  the  Department  as  I  thought  would  facilitate  him  in 
the  administration  of  his  affairs. 


72  SERVICE  ON  THE  INDIAN  RESERVATIONS. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

ORDERED  TO  OURAY  AGENCY,  UTAH,  "FORTHWITH" 
— UP  THE  KAW  AND  GREAT  SMOKY  HILL  VALLEYS 
—  IN  DENVER  —  IN  CHEYENNE  —  A  SYMPATHIZING 
PORTER — AT  GREEN  RIVER,  WYOMING — ALARMING 
NEWS  OF  THE  SITUATION  AT  OURAY. 

ON  the  1 2th  of  June  I  received  an  order  by  telegraph 
to  proceed  forthwith  to  Ouray  Agency,  Utah, 
where  I  would  find  written  instructions  awaiting  me. 

To  say  that  I  was  pleased  with  this  order  would  be 
to  express  but  half  the  truth.  I  was  elated.  I  had 
always  wanted  to  visit  the  beautiful  City  of  Salt  Lake, 
and  see  my  Mormon  brother  under  his  own  vines  and 
fig  trees.  I  use  the  plural  number  because  I  had  always 
understood  that  he  had  several,  and  sat  around  under 
them  quite  promiscuously. 

I  had  heard  of  no  disturbance  at  Ouray,  and  the 
order  did  not  create  even  a  suspicion  in  my  mind  that 
there  might  be  trouble  there  with  the  Indians.  I  sup 
posed  the  emergency  was  merely  a  business  matter. 


EXPERIENCES  OF  A  SPECIAL   INDIAN   AGENT.         73 

Striking  the  railroad  at  Arkansas  City,  Kansas,  I  ran 
up  to  Kansas  City,  and  there  took  the  early  morning 
train  west  on  the  Kansas  Pacific.  That  road  follows 
the  valleys  of  the  Kaw  and  Great  Smoky  Hill  Rivers — 
two  of  the  richest  valleys  in  the  world — and  from  morn 
ing  till  night  we  were  in  the  midst  of  a  vast  sea  of  corn 
and  wheat  fields.  It  was  wheat  harvest  time,  but  the 
corn  was  not  yet  in  tassel,  and  a  prettier  landscape  than 
those  alternating  deep-green  cofn  fields  and  golden 
wheat  fields  would  indeed  be  hard  to  find. 

I  was  greatly  interested  all  day  in  the  work  of  the 
harvesters.  From  the  car  windows  I  saw  scores  of 
great  self-binding  reapers,  and  combined  reapers  and 
threshers,  at  work  in  the  fields.  Those  magnificent 
combined  reapers  and  threshers  are  propelled  through 
the  fields  by  steam,  cutting  the  grain  in  front  and  roll 
ing  it  off  in  sacks  at  the  rear. 

The  weather  having  been  intensely  hot  at  Osage,  and 
expecting  to  be  on  duty  in  that  part  of  the  country  all 
summer,  I  had  discarded  all  of  my  heavy  clothing,  and 
fitted  out  with  a  straw  hat,  alpaca  coat,  and  other  gar 
ments  to  match. 

And  now  as  we  thundered  along  through  Eastern  and 
Central  Kansas  under  the  hot  June  sun  it  was  easy  to 
see  that  I  was  the  most  comfortably  dressed  man  on  the 
train.  I  supposed  that  all  the  other  passengers  were 


74  SERVICE  ON  THE  INDIAN  RESERVATIONS. 

tenderfeet  from  the  North  and  East,  as  they  were 
sweltering  in  rather  heavy,  dark  clothes,  and  often 
during  the  day  I  noticed  many  of  them  regarding  my 
soda  water  costume  with  evident  envy.  Even  when  I 
sought  my  berth  in  the  sleeper  and  retired  for  the  night, 
away  out  toward  the  west  line  of  the  State,  my  clothes 
were  still  in  season.  When  I  arose  at  6  o'clock  the 
next  morning  we  were  running  through  an  arid  plain  in 
Colorado.  There  was  not  a  tree  in  sight — no  vegetation 
of  any  kind,  in  fact,  except  some  scattering  bunch  grass 
and  sagebrush.  The  Rocky  Mountains  were  in  sight, 
and  away  off  to  the  southwest  snow-capped  Pike's  Peak 
stood  out  clear  and  distinct  against  the  horizon.  We 
were  in  three  hours  run  of  Denver. 

All  the  passengers  being  up,  I  again  observed  that 
mine  were  the  only  straw  hat,  alpaca  coat  and  summer 
trousers  on  the  train.  I  also  realized  that  we  had 
climbed  up  into  a  different  climate.  We  were  now  at 
an  elevation  of  perhaps  three  thousand  five  hundred 
feet  above  Kansas  City.  A  fire  was  burning  in  the 
heater  furnace  in  the  car,  and  I  noticed  that  some  of  the 
passengers  had  on  overcoats. 

I  went  out  on  the  rear  platform  to  try  the  tempera 
ture.  There  was  a  strong  wind  from  the  north,  and  it 
took  me  but  a  minute  to  discover  that  if  I  stood  out 
there  very  long  I  would  get  frost-bitten. 


EXPERIENCES  OF  A  SPECIAL   INDIAN   AGENT.          75 

From  that  time  on  it  seemed  to  me  that  all  the  pas 
sengers  stared  at  my  picnic  attire,  and  winked  and  said 
things  to  one  another  on  the  sly,  more  than  was  neces 
sary  or  polite,  and  I  was  glad  when  we  got  to  Denver, 
where  I  hoped  I  would  see  no  more  of  any  of  them.  I 
was  now  satisfied  that  they  were  not  as  "tenderfooted" 
as  they  at  first  seemed  to  be. 

We  arrived  in  Denver  at  9  o'clock,  and  had  to  lay 
over  there  four  hours.  By  that  time  of  day  the  sun  was 
warm  enough  for  me  to  take  a  walk  over  the  city. 

Denver  is  indeed  the  Queen  City  of  the  Rocky  Moun 
tains.  Situated  between  the  Great  Plains  on  one  side 
and  the  Rocky  Mountains  on  the  other,  and  at  an  ele 
vation  of  five  thousand  five  hundred  feet  above  the  sea, 
the  atmosphere  there  is  so  pure  and  clear  that  objects  can 
be  seen  at  long  distances  with  wonderful  distinctness. 
The  mountains  are  said  to  be  fifteen  miles  away,  and 
yet  from  the  centre  the  city  appears  to  be  built  right  up 
against  them. 

At  I  o'clock  my  train  pulled  out  for  Cheyenne, 
Wyoming.  The  railroad  skirts  the  plains  all  the  way 
from  Denver  to  Cheyenne,  but  the  Rocky  Mountains 
may  be  distinctly  seen  from  tbe  car  window  at  any 
point  on  the  route. 

The  road  crosses  the  South  Platte  River  at  the  town 
of  Greeley,  where  the  entire  valley  seems  to  be  under 


76  SERVICE  ON  THE  INDIAN  RESERVATIONS. 

irrigation.  Great  canals  take  the  water  from  the  river 
and  conduct  it  along  the  foothills  for  miles  and  miles 
down  the  valley,  giving  it  out  on  the  way  to  lateral 
ditches,  which  distribute  it  among  the  farms. 

At  the  Greeley  depot  I  saw  large  quantities  of  fruits 
and  vegetables,  including  strawberries  of  very  fine  size 
and  quality — so  fine  indeed  that  I  accused  one  of  the 
venders  of  having  imported  them  from  Arkansas.  He 
denied  it,  however,  and  turned  the  laugh  on  me  by  the 
remark  that  he  had  "never  heard  of  that  place  before  !" 

We  arrived  at  Cheyenne  at  5  o'clock,  and  stopped  there 
more  than  an  hour  to  get  supper  and  transfer  to  the  main 
line  of  the  Union  Pacific  from  Omaha  to  San  Francisco. 

Cheyenne  is  nearly  a  thousand  feet  higher  than  Den 
ver,  and,  it  seemed  to  me,  more  than  a  thousand  feet 
colder.  I  started  up  town,  but  soon  found  that  I  could 
not  stand  it  without  an  overcoat,  and  was  attracting  too 
much  attention  anyhow.  So  I  returned  to  the  sleeping 
car,  where  I  was  glad  to  find  the  porter  shoveling  coal 
into  the  heater  furnace.  As  I  walked  in  he  glanced 
sidewise  at  me  and  said  : 

"Hits  guine  ter  be  mighty  cole  up  dar  under  dem 
snow  sheds  whar  de  roiid  crosses  de  mountain." 

And  we  were  going  up  into  the  snow,  eh !  That  was 
information  to  me,  though  I  did  not  feel  called  on  to 
say  so.  On  the  contrary  I  said: 


EXPERIENCES  OF  A  SPECIAL   INDIAN   AGENT.          77 

"Yes;  I've  no  doubt  it  will.  Will  we  get  there 
before  bedtime?" 

"Oh,  yass,  sah ;  befo'  dark.  Big,  helty  man  lak 
you  couldn't  go  to  bed  dat  early.  But  den  dat's  all 
right,  boss.  I's  on  to  dem  close  o'  yourn,  an  I'll  fire 
up  and  make  dem  udder  fellers  take  off  dere  coats  an 
set  in  dere  shirt  sleeves  wid  you.  Dem  'ud  be  mighty 
proper  close  in  New  Aurleens.  I  speck  dis  de  fuss 
time  you  ebber  come  out  Wes'.  I  wish  I'd  nebber 
come  out  yere  de  fuss  time.  Dis  de  poores'  white 
man's  country  I  ebber  did  see.  I'se  guine  back  to  Ar 
kansas,  whar  I  come  from,  de  berry  fuss  chance  I  git. 
Dat  what  I  sholy  guine  do.  I'd  give  fo'  bits  right 
now  fur  one  dem  Hot  Springs  barfs  to  wash  dis  akkerli 
duss  offer  me." 

"Hold  on  there.      Are  you  from  Arkansas?" 

"Lookee  yere,  boss,  you'se  not  a  dipity  sheriff,  is 
you?" 

"No;  and  if  I  were  I  wouldn't  arrest  a  nigger  that 
kept  a  good  fire  for  me.  But  I  am  from  Arkansas,  and 
thought  perhaps  we  might  be  related." 

"De  Lordy  mussy,  boss,  I  speck  we  is.  You  know 
Colonel  Beaver  Dam  Williams,  what  owns  dat  big  plan 
tation  down  on  Nobles'  Lake?" 

"Oh,  yes." 

"Does  you,  shore  enough?     Why,  de  Lordy  mussy, 


78  SERVICE  ON  THE  INDIAN  RESERVATIONS. 

boss,  me  an  de  Colonel  been  runnin'  togedder  ebber 
since  I  been  big  enough  to  tote  a  letter  to  de  pos'  office. 
De  Colonel's  one  mighty  good  white  man;  dat  what 
he  sholy  am.  Say,  boss;  you  right  suttin  you'se  not 
a  dipity  sheriff?" 

"Oh,  yes;  positive." 

"Is  you?  Lor'  bless  you  fur  dat!  I  ain  done 
nothin',  but  I  never  did  lak  to  'sociate  wid  a  dipity 
sheriff.  Dars  a  yaller  gal  at  Pine  Bluff  been  makin'  her 
brags  she  guine  ter  hab  me  brung  back  dar  wid  a  breach 
o'  promises,  but  I  ain'  make  no  more  promises  den  she 
is,  an  if  she  keeps  goin'  on  erbout  it  I  guine  ter  hab  her 
brung  out  yere  and  gib  her  tc  dem  Mormon  niggers 
at  Ogden.  Dat  what  I  guine  do.  While  I  was  stop 
dere  de  udder  day  dey  tole  me  dey  mighty  short  on 
wives.  Dey  ain'  got  more'n  three  or  fo'  apiece,  an 
dem  white  Mormons  dey  tells  'em  dat  ain'  half  enough. 
You  hear  my  horn,  if  she  dat  bad  off  to  marry,  I  jis 
take  her  ober  dar  and  lef  her.  You  know  dem  Mor 
mon  niggers,  dey'll  jis  marry  all  de  wimmin  dey  can 
git  dere  hans  on.  Boss,  lemme  git  some  more  coal  in 
dat  furnis.  I'll  make  dem  udder  fellows  sweat  "'fo'  dey 
gits  through  dem  snow  sheds,  I  sholy  will.  I'll  make 
em  wish  dey  didn't  hab  on  nothin'  but  linen  dusters. 
I  doan  lak  dere  looks  much,  nohow.  Dere  ain'  a 
drummer  in  de  whole  shootin'  match.  Dere  ebbery 


EXPERIENCES  OF  A  SPECIAL   INDIAN   AGENT.         79 

one  two-risses.  We  calls  'em  two-risses  because  a  heap 
o'  times  hit  takes  two  of  'em  to  pay  de  porter  a  dime." 

As  the  train  pulled  up  to  the  station  at  Green  River 
the  next  morning,  Indian  Inspector  Robert  S.  Gardner, 
with  whom  I  was  acquainted,  came  elbowing  his  way 
through  the  crowd  to  meet  me.  He  said  he  intuitively 
knew  when  he  saw  the  situation  at  Ouray  that  I  would 
be  the  man  sent  to  take  charge ! 

"Take  charge?  What  is  the  matter  down  there?" 
I  asked  as  my  mind  "forthwith"  reverted  to  home  and 
the  gleefulness  with  which  I  had  received  the  order. 

"Why,  don't  you  know?  What  are  your  orders?" 
the  Inspector  asked. 

"I  know  absolutely  nothing,"  I  replied.  "My  order 
is  simply  to  repair  'forthwith'  to  Ouray  and  find  in 
structions.  I  am  going  in  blindfolded,  as  it  were." 

I  may  as  well  confess  that  I  was  about  to  become 
"forthwith"  somewhat  dissatisfied  with  the  service. 

"Well,"  the  Inspector  continued,  "you'll  find  plenty 
of  'instructions'  down  there — enough  to  make  your  head 
swim.  In  addition  to  what  you  get  from  the  Depart 
ment,  Saponero  and  Colorow  will  want  to  give  you  'a 
whole  passel,'  and  you'll  find  about  as  much  comfort 
in  one  as  in  the  other.  The  Indians  are  mad  and 
threatening.  The  Agent  telegraphed  his  resignation 
the  other  day,  and  immediately  lit  out  for  tall  timber, 


80  SERVICE  ON  THE  INDIAN  RESERVATIONS. 

without  waiting  for  leave  from  the  Department.  I  was 
down  there  a  week  ago,  and  the  Indians,  whom  I  have 
known  personally  for  years,  would  not  speak  to  me.  I 
remained  one  night  and  hurried  back  to  report  the 
situation  to  the  Department.  The  War  Department 
had  also  heard  of  the  trouble,  and  Colonel  Bush,  of  the 
Sixth  Infantry,  was  there  with  a  small  escort  from  Fort 
Douglass  the  same  night  I  was,  to  ascertain  the  situa 
tion.  He  pushed  right  back,  and  troops  will  be  sent  as 
quick  as  possible.  It  will  be  your  duty  to  try  to  pacify 
the  Indians  and  prevent  an  outbreak  until  troops  can  gc 
to  your  relief.  W.  A.  McKewen,  the  Agency  Clerk,  a 
brave  young  fellow  from  Baltimore,  is  in  charge,  with 
nine  white  employes,  but  they  are  liable  to  be  attacked 
any  day." 

I   felt  very  tired,  and  sat  down  on  a  bench  to  rest. 


EXPERIENCES  OF  A  SPECIAL    INDIAN    AGENT.         81 


CHAPTER  X. 

THE  DRUGGIST  AT  GREEN  RIVER — ONE  HUNDRED  AND 
SIXTY  MILES  ACROSS  MOUNTAINS,  DESERTS  AND 
"BAD  LANDS" — A  MORMON  OASIS — ARRIVED  AT 
OURAY  AGENCY. 

"A  /TY  arrival  at  Green  River  being  on  Sunday  I  had  to 
•"-*•  lay  over  there  until  Monday  before  I  could  get 
transportation  to  Ouray. 

Green  River  is  a  small  town,  and  devoid  of  beauty, 
but  during  the  day  I  discovered  that  it  contained  a 
number  of  extremely  picturesque  citizens.  In  a  drug 
store  I  called  for  some  quinine.  Judging  from  the  ap 
pearance  of  the  proprietor,  who  was  alone  in  the  store, 
I  should  have  set  him  down  as  an  ox  driver,  and  I  was 
afterwards  told  that  he  had  in  fact  been  an  ox  driver, 
and  also  a  miner,  a  sheep  herder,  a  justice  of  the  peace, 
a  ranch  boss,  county  judge,  chairman  of  a  vigilance 
committee,  member  of  the  Legislature,  and  a  section 
foreman  on  the  railroad.  He  had  a  good  store,  but  it 
was  evident  that  he  knew  nothing  about  the  business, 


82  SERVICE  ON  THE  INDIAN  RESERVATIONS. 

and  could  not  weigh  or  measure  medicines  with  a  smaller 
implement  than  a  spade  or  a  quart  cup.  He  said  he 
kept  a  young  doctor  about  the  store  to  measure  out  all 
the  "pizen  medicines,"  but  as  quinine  was  not  "pizen," 
he  guessed  he  and  I  could  get  it  ourselves,  without 
waiting  for  the  doctor,  who  happened  to  be  absent. 
Then  handing  me  a  bottle,  he  told  me  to  help  myself. 

"All  right,"  I  said;  "give  me  some  capsules  to  put 
it  in." 

"Capsules?"     What's  them,  pardner?"  he  asked. 

I  explained  what  they  were,  and  he  said : 

"Oh!  Them  things  f  Great  gulliver  !  A  drummer 
sneaked  in  here  while  I  was  off  on  the  round-up  last 
fall,  and  fooled  Dock  into  buyin'  four  bushel  of  'em. 
Dock  thought  he  had  played  thunder,  and  sure  enough 
he  had,  for  when  they  come  we  found  out  they  wus  a 
fraud,  and  throwed  'em  away.  You  don't  want  none 
o'  them  things.  You  couldn't  fill  a  dozen  of  'em  in 
two  days." 

"Oh,  they  are  not  hard  to  fill,"  I  replied,  "and  I 
don't  want  the  quinine  unless  you  have  them." 

"Sorry  you  said  not  hard  to  fill,"  he  returned,  "but 
hold  on  a  minute.  I  believe  we  throwed  'em  back  here. 
I  jis  want  to  show  you  what  a  whole  passel  you  don't 
know  about  'em." 

At  the  place  indicated  in  a  rear  corner  I  saw  a  great 


EXPERIENCES  OF  A  SPECIAL   INDIAN   AGENT.         83 

pile  of  sweepings  from  the  floor.  Scratching  around  in 
this  pile  of  dirt,  he  got  out  an  armful  of  capsule  boxes 
and  piled  them  on  the  counter.  Opening  a  box,  I 
commenced  filling  the  little  cups  by  tapping  the  open 
ends  down  on  the  quinine.  The  druggist  was  amazed. 
Watching  me  closely  until  I  had  filled  three  or  four,  he 
suddenly  straightened  up  and  exclaimed: 

"Say,  pardner!  If  you  ever  hear  of  the  fool-killer 
driftin'  over  into  this  part  of  the  range,  jis  give  me  and 
Dock  a  signal,  will  you,  and  by  grab  we'll  hide  out. 
Me  and  him  tried  to  fill  them  things  with  a  spoon!" 

From  Green  River  I  had  the  company  of  Mr.  Sam 
McDowell,  a  very  intelligent  young  man  who  was  re 
turning  from  a  visit  to  his  home  at  Danville,  Kentucky, 
to  Ouray  Agency,  where  he  was  a  clerk  in  the  trader's 
store. 

Our  route  the  first  day  lay  across  a  hot  and  dusty 
sagebrush  plain.  The  early  morning  was  cool  and 
bracing,  but  by  9  o'clock  the  heat  was  intense.  The 
sun  blazed  on  us  from  above,  and  was  reflected  back  in 
our  faces  with  increased  heat  from  the  garish  earth 
below.  All  day  we  could  see  vast  snow-banks  glisten 
ing  in  the  sunlight  on  the  high  mountains  off  to  the 
south  and  west  of  us.  But  the  sight  of  those  ice-clad 
peaks  in  the  distance  only  tantalized  us,  instead  of  alle 
viating  ou*  discomfort  there  on  that  hot  and  shadeless 


84  SERVICE  ON  THE  INDIAN  RESERVATIONS. 

plain.  Just  before  night  we  reached  Maxon's  ranch, 
the  first  settlement  from  Green  River. 

Next  morning  we  passed  through  Seger  Canyon,  in 
which  we  found  the  heat  more  insufferable  than  it  was 
on  the  plain  the  day  before.  Escape  from  the  sun  was 
just  as  impossible,  and  between  the  bare  walls  of  the 
canyon  there  was  not  a  breath  of  air  stirring.  At  noon 
we  crossed  over  to  the  west  side  of  Green  River  at  Jar- 
vey's  Ferry. 

Soon  after  crossing  the  river  we  began  to  ascend  the 
Uintah  Mountains,  which  lay  directly  across  our  road, 
and  an  hour  before  sunset  we  drew  wearily  up  to  the 
Diamond  Ranch,  a  summer  sheep  ranch  on  the  summit 
of  Diamond  Pass,  at  an  elevation  of  perhaps  twelve 
thousand  feet. 

Next  morning  I  was  shown  ice  more  than  an  inch 
thick.  And  that  was  no  unusual  circumstance.  Owing 
to  the  great  elevation  ice  forms  there  an  inch  thick  in 
the  warmest  nights  of  the  year.  About  the  ist  of 
October  the  pass  fills  up  with  snow,  and  remains  so 
until  about  the  ist  of  May.  When  it  was  thus  closed 
all  the  mail  for  Uintah  and  Ouray  Agencies  and  the 
town  of  Ashley  had  to  be  carried  over  by  footmen  on 
snowshoes — the  only  means  by  which  a  crossing  could 
be  effected. 

Resuming  our  journey  at  sunrise  in  two  ho  jrs  we  had 


EXPERIENCES  OF  A  SPECIAL   INDIAN    AGENT.          85 

descended  from  the  mountain  and  entered  a  stretch  of 
country  unlike  any  I  had  ever  seen  before.  It  wore  a 
most  forbidding  aspect,  and  was  appropriately  named 
"the  bad  lands."  There  was  not  a  tree,  scarcely  a  blade 
of  grass,  no  vegetation  of  any  kind,  no  sign  of  moisture, 
no  rocks — nothing  but  round  little  clay  hills  and  hollows. 
All  places  and  all  sides  looked  alike.  The  surface  of 
the  earth  from  the  bottom  of  the  hollows  to  the  tops  of 
the  hills  was  everywhere  precisely  the  same — alternating 
streaks  of  dun,  yellow  and  red  clay,  and  all  baked  and 
cracked  like  the  silt  in  the  bed  of  a  dry  lake. 

Winding,  twisting  and  toiling  up  and  down  and 
around  those  hills  and  hollows  until  12  o'clock,  we  then 
emerged  from  the  "bad  lands"  and  entered  the  valley 
of  Ashley  River,  at  the  town  of  Ashley.  This  valley  is 
a  real  oasis — the  only  one  on  the  road  between  Green 
River  and  Ouray.  It  is  two  or  three  miles  wide,  six  or 
seven  long,  and  at  that  time  contained  about  2,500  in 
habitants,  all  Mormons.  The  main  settlement  consti 
tuted  a  very  pretty  little  rural  town,  and  throughout 
the  valley  there  were  many  evidences  of  thrift  and  in 
dustry.  A  good  portion  of  the  valley  was  under  irri 
gation,  and  interspersed  among  the  fields  of  grain  and 
alfalfa  were  orchards  and  long  lines  of  shade  trees, 
which  added  greatly  to  the  natural  beauty  and  attract 
iveness  of  the  valley. 


86  SERVICE  ON  THE  INDIAN  RESERVATIONS. 

After  halting  an  hour  and  a  half  at  Ashley,  we  started 
out  on  the  last  twenty-five  miles  of  our  journey.  As 
cending  from  the  valley,  we  saw  our  road  stretching 
away  to  the  south  across  the  sandiest,  hottest  and  most 
desolate  desert  that  we  had  yet  encountered.  A  few 
miles  further  on  we  crossed  the  boundary  line,  and  en 
tered  the  Reservation. 

In  this  blazing  desert  there  was  neither  shade,  nor 
water,  nor  human  inhabitant,  and  but  little  of  either 
vegetable  or  animal  life  of  any  kind — scarcely  anything 
but  deep,  loose  sand,  into  which  our  horses  sunk  to 
their  fetlocks  at  almost  every  step.  The  poor  beasts 
staggered  in  the  traces  almost  overcome  by  the  heat. 

And  although  McDowell  and  I  were  protected  from 
the  direct  rays  of  the  sun  by  the  hack  cover,  being  un 
accustomed  to  such  exposure,  we  suffered  almost  as 
severely  as  the  horses.  Our  heads  ached,  our  eyes  be 
came  inflamed,  and  our  faces  burnt  and  swollen. 

An  hour  after  dark  we  arrived  at  the  Agency. 


EXPERIENCES  OF  A  SPECIAL   INDIAN    AGENT.         87 


CHAPTER  XI. 

IN  CHARGE  OF  OURAY  AGENCY — HOW  A  CLERK  HAD 
ROBBED  THE  INDIANS  —  THE  AGENT  "NO  MORE 
WRITE,"  BUT  PAID  THE  MONEY  "PURTY  QUICK," 
AND  RESIGNED  BY  TELEGRAPH — TROOPS  EXPECTED. 

TN  the  letter  of  instructions  referred  to  in  the  tele- 
-*"  graphic  order  at  Osage,  and  which  I  found  awaiting 
me  at  Ouray,  I  was  informed  of  the  Agent's  abdication, 
and  ordered  to  take  charge  of  the  Agency  myself,  pac 
ify  the  Indians,  if  possible,  and  keep  the  Department 
advised  of  the  situation. 

As  soon  as  I  had  read  the  letter  I  sat  down  at  a  desk 
in  the  Agent's  office  and  wrote  an  order  formally  assum 
ing  charge,  and  then  immediately  addressed  myself  to 
an  inquiry  into  the  character  of  the  Indians  and  the 
causes  of  the  threatened  outbreak. 

The  Indians  of  the  Ouray  Agency  number  about 
1,200  persons,  and  are  known  as  the  Uncompahgre 
Band  of  Utes.  They  are  among  the  most  benighted 
and  intractable  savages  in  the  United  States.  At  that 


88  SERVICE  ON  THE  INDIAN  RESERVATIONS. 

date  there  were  but  two  members  of  the  band  who 
could  speak  English  well  enough  to  carry  on  a  simple 
conversation.  Saponero  was  principal  chief  and  Colo- 
row  an  under  chief. 

These  Indians  had  formerly  lived  in  Colorado,  and  in 
their  treaty  of  removal  to  Utah  they  had  expressly  re 
served  the  right  to  return  to  their  old  Reservation  at 
certain  seasons  of  the  year,  to  hunt.  But  lately  a  fight 
had  occurred  on  White  River  between  Colorow's  band 
and  some  cattlemen,  who  had  accused  the  Indians  of 
stealing  cattle,  and  forbidden  them  to  ever  cross  the 
line  of  the  old  Reservation  again.  This  had  caused 
great  irritation  and  excitement  among  the  Indians,  and 
as  they  were  angrily  asserting  their  right  and  intention 
to  continue  to  hunt  in  the  forbidden  country,  further 
trouble  was  liable  to  occur  any  day.  And,  of  course, 
a  serious  collision  with  the  whites  in  that  quarter  would 
be  immediately  followed  by  an  uprising  at  the  Agency. 

The  two  Reservations,  the  old  and  the  new,  lie  broad 
side  to  each  other,  and  are  only  separated  by  the 
boundary  line  between  Colorado  and  Utah.  On  the 
Colorado  side  are  certain  streams  and  valleys  which  the 
Indians  have  always  coveted,  and  which  were  formerly 
thought  to  be  in  Utah.  The  Indians  say  that  while  the 
tribe  lived  in  Colorado  they  were  always  told  that  those 
streams  and  valleys  were  not  in  that  Reservation,  but 


EXPERIENCES  OF  A  SPECIAL   INDIAN   AGENT.         89 

in  Utah.  Indeed  they  say  that  at  the  time  of  the 
treaty  of  removal  the  Treaty  Commissioners  themselves 
told  them  that  they  were  in  Utah,  and  would  fall  within 
their  new  Reservation  in  that  Territory.  I  have  no 
doubt  that  was  true,  for  at  that  time  they  were  in  Utah, 
as  the  boundary  line  was  then  recognized.  But  since 
the  removal  of  the  Indians  the  discovery  had  been  made 
by  a  careful-  resurvey  that  the  boundary  line  was  in  fact 
several  miles  west  of  the  original  survey,  and  that  the 
coveted  streams  and  valleys  were  not  in  Utah,  but  in 
Colorado — not  in  the  new  Reservation,  but  in  the  old 
one. 

Of  course  this  was  not  a  piece  of  legerdemain  to  de 
fraud  the  Indians,  but  they  believed  it  was.  In  fact 
from  their  standpoint,  and  with  their  benighted  vision, 
they  could  see  it  in  no  other  light,  and  no  proof  or 
argument  could  convince  them  to  the  contrary.  To 
them  it  was  a  hard  materialization,  and  on  a  large  scale, 
of  the  fabled  proposition  of  the  white  man  to  the  Indian 
at  the  close  of  a  day's  hunt: 

"I'll  take  the  turkey,  and  you  take  the  buzzard;  or 
you  take  the  buzzard,  and/'//  take  the  turkey." 

They  said :  "When  we  lived  in  Colorado  the  white 
man  told  us  that  strip  of  country  did  not  belong  to  us — 
was  not  in  our  Reservation.  He  used  to  show  us  the 
line  and  forbid  us  to  cross  over.  Then  he  asked  us  to 


90  SERVICE  ON  THE  INDIAN  RESERVATIONS. 

'swap'  countries,  and  told  us  that  when  we  came  over 
here  those  running  waters  and  grassy  valleys  would  be 
ours.  We  came,  and  the  white  man  took  possession  of 
our  old  Reservation.  Then,  the  first  thing  we  knew, 
the  white  man  snatched  those  streams  and  valleys  away 
from  us — took  them  out  of  our  new  Reservation,  where 
they  had  always  been,  and  put  them  in  the  old,  where 
they  had  never  been  before — and  say,  'white  man  mis 
taken;  they  do  not  belong  to  Indian,  but  to  him!'  All 
time  belong  to  white  man!" 

I  asked  Mr.  McKewen  who  they  accused  of  this.  He 
replied : 

"Me,  sir!  Washington.  Everybody.  The  first  time 
you  hold  a  pow-wow  with  them  they  will  charge  you 
with  it." 

I  also  asked  him  if  he  thought  they  would  fight  over 
the  disputed  strip  and  the  right  to  hunt  in  the  old  Res 
ervation.  He  said: 

"Yes,  sir.  Colorow  is  over  there  now  with  his  band, 
making  medicine,  dancing,  and  swearing  that  if  he  is 
interfered  with  he  will  kill  off  the  entire  "tribe"  of 
white  people.  He  has  never  seen  but  a  few  thousand 
whites,  and  he  cannot  believe  that  they  outnumber  the 
Utes  more  than  two  or  three  to  one,  at  most,  and  he 
considers  one  Ute  equal  to  several  white  men.  More 
over,  Saponero  has  lately  gone  up  DuChesne  valley 


EXPERIENCES  OF  A  SPECIAL   INDIAN    AGENT.         9i 

and  built  a  wickiup  right  across  the  west  boundary  line, 
or  right  across  where  he  thinks  it  is,  and  is  living  there 
to  keep  us  from  stealing  that  side  of  the  Reservation 
also." 

And  this  was  not  all.  Contemporaneously  with  these 
occurrences  a  large  sum  of  money  was  sent  to  the 
Agent  with  which  to  make  an  annuity  payment.  After 
all  the  Indians  on  the  Reservation  had  presented  them 
selves  and  received  their  shares,  there  were  three  hun 
dred  and  sixty  names  on  the  rolls  still  unpaid.  The 
Agent  and  Clerk  McKewen  had  both  lately  come  to 
the  Agency.  The  census  of  the  tribe  had  been  taken, 
and  the  pay-rolls  made  out  and  certified,  by  their  pre 
decessors,  and  they  were  alike  unfamiliar  with  the 
papers  and  unacquainted  with  the  Indians.  They  read 
off  the  three  hundred  and  sixty  names  to  the  Indians 
present,  through  the  interpreter,  and  inquired  where  the 
delinquents  were,  and  the  cause  of  their  absence.  The 
Indians  answered  that  every  member  of  the  tribe  had 
been  paid,  and  that  the  unpaid  names  were  fictitious. 
They  also  claimed  the  remainder  of  the  money — $3,600 
- — for  themselves,  and  demanded  that  it  be  paid  to  them 
at  once.  The  Agent  was  convinced  that  the  names 
were  fictitious  and  fraudulent,  but  under  the  regulations 
of  the  Department  he  was  required  to  return  the  money 
to  the  Treasury  until  the  roll  could  be  corrected  for  the 


92  SERVICE  ON  THE  INDIAN  RESERVATIONS. 

next  payment,  and  he  so  explained  to  the  Indians. 
They  retired  to  hold  a  council. 

In  a  short  while  a  delegation  of  chiefs  came  back  to 
the  office  and  inquired  if  money  had  been  drawn  on  the 
fictitious  names  at  any  previous  payment.  The  retained 
copies  of  the  pay-rolls  on  file  in  the  office,  which  were 
hurriedly  examined,  showed  that  they  had  been  paid 
equally  with  the  bona  fide  names — $10  per  capita — 
at  each  payment  for  several  years  past,  and  the  chiefs 
were  so  informed.  With  suppressed  rage  they  returned 
to  the  council  and  reported  their  information.  It  was 
received  with  furious  grunts  of  anger,  and  provoked 
several  highly  inflammatory  speeches.  The  speakers 
said  they  had  seen  the  white  man  steal  their  eastern 
boundary,  and  been  shot  at  on  their  old  Reservation, 
where  they  had  a  right  to  be,  but  they  had  not  known 
that  a  part  of  their  annuity  was  also  being  stolen  from 
them.  It  was  time  to  fight! 

The  whole  tribe  reappeared  at  the  office  and  again 
demanded  the  money.  The  Agent  started  to  explain 
again  that  he  would  first  have  to  write  to  Washington 
for  authority  to  pay  them.  Jerking  out  their  guns  and 
pistols,  and  cocking  them  in  the  faces  of  the  Agent  and 
clerk,  they  commanded  in  most  belligerent  tones: 

"No  more  write! !!  Money!  Pnrty  quick!!  Pay 
it!!!" 


EXPERIENCES  OF  A  SPECIAL   INDIAN   AGENT.         93 

And  the  Agent  "no  more  write."  He  counted  the 
money  out  to  them  "purty  quick,"  and  the  next  thing 
he  wrote  was  his  resignation,  and  the  employes  used  to 
laugh  and  tell  me  that  he  did  that  by  telegraph,  and 
followed  it  up  in  person  an  hour  later  on  the  best  horse 
at  the  Agency. 

Subsequent  investigation  developed  proof  that  the 
robberies  had  been  committed  by  the  former  clerk  with 
out  the  knowledge  of  his  Agent,  the  latter's  responsi 
bility  for  them  consisting  solely  in  his  incompetency 
and  neglect  of  duty. 

Under  the  regulations  of  the  Department  the  Agent 
is  required  to  take  a  census  of  his  Indians  once  a  year, 
and  correct  and  certify  the  roll  for  each  annuity  pay 
ment,  by  adding  the  births  and  subtracting  the  deaths. 
Then  when  the  money  is  sent  to  him  it  is  his  duty  to 
divide  the  total  amount  by  the  whole  number  of  Indians, 
to  ascertain  the  per  capita  share  of  each,  and  make  pay 
ment  accordingly. 

But  the  former  Agent  at  Ouray  being  an  easy-going, 
incompetent  man,  he  had  intrusted  all  this  business  to 
the  clerk,  who  had  promptly  embraced  the  opportunities 
thus  afforded  to  rob  the  Indians.  Being  permitted  to 
take  the  census  and  make  the  disbursements  in  his  own 
way,  he  was  enabled  to  enter  the  three  hundred  and 
sixty  fictitious  names  on  the  rolls  and  draw  their  per 


94  SERVICE  ON  THE  INDIAN  RESERVATIONS. 

capita  shares  and  forge  their  receipts  therefor  at  each 
payment,  without  detection  by  the  stupid  interpreter  or 
the  two  unsuspecting  and  incompetent  white  witnesses 
required  by  the  regulations.  And  the  pay-rolls  being 
perfect  on  their  face,  it  was  impossible  for  the  account 
ing  officers  at  Washington  to  detect  the  fraud. 

After  making  out  the  rolls  for  the  payment  just  de 
scribed,  this  clerk  was  unexpectedly  dismissed  from  the 
service,  and  knowing  that  exposure,  and  perhaps  arrest 
and  punishment,  would  follow,  he  immediately  de 
camped  for  Mexico.  And  before  the  payment  came 
on  the  Agent  was  also  removed. 

And  a  few  days  subsequent  to  this  mutiny  the  Indians 
were  aroused  to  another  dangerous  tumult  of  anger  and 
excitement  by  an  unusual  double  tragedy  among  them 
selves.  A  common  Indian  named  Arrowod  shot  and 
killed  a  prominent  chief  and  medicine  man  named 
Shavanaw,  while  the  latter  was  sitting  on  his  pony,  on 
the  plaza  immediately  in  front  of  the  Agent's  office, 
surrounded  by  a  score  of  his  warriors.  After  shooting 
Shavanaw,  Arrowod  wheeled  to  ride  away,  but  before 
he  could  get  out  of  range  the  friends  of  his  victim  had 
fired  a  hundred  bullets  into  his  body.  A  rope  was  then 
tied  around  his  feet  and  his  body  dragged  to  the  bank 
of  DuChesne  River  by  his  own  pony.  At  the  river 
the  pony  was  also  shot,  and  its  lifeless  body  and  that  of 


EXPERIENCES  OF  A  SPECIAL   INDIAN    AGENT.         95 

its  owner,  securely  lashed  together,  were,  amidst  the 
most  ferocious  yells  of  anger  and  the  wildest  howls  of 
grief,  rolled  over  the  bank  into  the  deep  and  turbid 
river  by  the  savage  chief's  savage  avengers. 

Following  these  disturbances,  and  just  before  my 
arrival,  an  Indian  named  Paprice  was  killed  by  another 
named  Wass.  Wass  was  a  head  man  and  "medicine 
man,"  and,  I  think  I  may  add,  a  bad  man.  He  was 
accused  by  Paprice  of  having  made  "bad  medicine" 
for  his  two  sons,  both  of  whom  had  recently  died. 
Meeting  Wass,  Paprice  said  to  him: 

"You  have  killed  both  of  my  pappooses,  and  you 
might  as  well  kill  me." 

From  a  motive  known  only  to  himself,  Wass  raised 
his  gun  and  shot  the  old  man  dead.  When  called  to 
account  for  this  deed  the  only  justification  that  Wass 
or  his  friends  had  to  offer  for  it  was  that  as  Paprice  was 
rather  an  old  man  he  had  only  a  few  more  years  to  live 
anyhow,  and  that,  therefore,  no  very  great  wrong  had 
been  done.  Indeed,  for  this  reason  he  and  his  friends 
regarded  the  very  suggestion  of  punishment  as  prepos 
terous. 

This  was  the  state  of  affairs  that  had  constrained  the 
Agent  to  resign  and  abandon  his  Agency,  and  inspired 
the  telegraphic  order  to  me  to  proceed  "forthwith"  to 
take  his  place. 


96  SERVICE  ON  THE  INDIAN  RESERVATIONS. 

And  this  was  not  only  the  condition  of  the  Uncom- 
pahgres,  but  two  other  large  bands  of  Utes  on  the  ad 
joining  Reservation — the  Uintahs  and  White  Rivers — 
were  similarly  disaffected.  They  had  lately  set  fire  to 
the  Agency  farm  fence,  backed  the  Agent  up  in  a  corner 
of  his  office,  kicked  him,  jammed  his  hat  down  over 
his  eyes,  subjected  him  to  other  gross  indignities,  and 
committed  other  acts  of  insubordination. 


EXPERIENCES  OF  A  SPECIAL    INDIAN    AGENT.         97 


CHAPTER  XII. 

HOW  THE  GOVERNMENT  SERVICE  IS  CONDUCTED  AT 
THE  AGENCIES — DESCRIPTION  OF  OURAY— THE  EM 
PLOYES — AN  IMPOSING  SAVAGE  ARRAY — ARRIVAL 
OF  THE  INDIANS  FOR  A  COUNCIL. 

TN  the  beginning  all  of  the  tribes  roamed  at  will  over 
the  vast  domain  of  the  West.  Boundary  lines  were 
unknown  to  them.  All  were  free  to  go  wherever  their 
fancy  led  them,  and  it  is  known  that  some  of  them, 
notably  the  Comanches,  hunted  and  raided  from  the 
British  Possessions  on  the  north  into  Central  Mexico  on 
the  south.  I  have  myself  often  been  told  by  old 
Comanche  warriors  of  their  visits  to  the  Dakotas  at  the 
British  line,  and  of  their  raids  into  Mexico,  where  the 
trees  swarmed  with  monkeys  and  parrots. 

But  sending  out  Commissions  from  time  to  time  to 
make  formal  treaties  with  the  various  separate  tribes, 
the  Government  finally  settled  them  all  down  on  com 
paratively  small  Reservations,  and  established  Agencies 
for  their  management  and  control.  In  these  treaties 
the  Indians  relinquished  their  right  to  roam  over  the 

(4) 


EXPERIENCES  OF  A  SPECIAL   INDIAN   AGENT.         99 

country  at  large,  accepted  their  respective  Reservations, 
and  covenanted  to  dwell  within  their  boundaries,  and 
learn  to  walk  in  the  white  man's  road. 

In  consideration  of  these  concessions  on  the  part  of 
the  Indians,  the  Government  covenanted  on  its  part  to 
pay  them  an  annuity  in  cash,  or  subsistence  supplies, 
until  they  could  learn  to  support  themselves — generally 
limited  to  twenty,  twenty-five  and  thirty  years;  to  pro 
vide  mills,  shops  and  medicines  to  meet  their  necessi 
ties  ;  an  Agent  and  teachers  to  govern  them  and  teach 
them  the  arts  of  civilization,  and  a  physician  to  attend 
their  sick. 

Ouray  was  established  in  fulfillment  of  one  of  these 
treaties.  It  was  built  for  a  temporary  army  post,  and 
after  having  been  abandoned  by  the  War  Department  it 
was  turned  over  to  the  Interior  Department  for  an 
Agency.  All  the  houses,  except  the  Agent's  dwelling 
and  one  other,  are  mere  huts,  constructed  of  logs  set  in 
the  ground  stockade  fashion,  the  roofs  made  of  dirt,  and 
the  cracks  daubed  with  mortar. 

It  is  situated  at  the  confluence  of  the  Green  and 
DuChesne  Rivers,  in  one  of  the  wildest,  most  isolated 
and  remote  regions  in  the  West.  The  two  nearest  white 
settlements  were  Uintah  Agency  and  the  Mormon  town 
of  Ashley,  each  twenty-five  miles  distant.  The  next 
nearest  were  Rangely,  Colorado,  sixty  miles,  and 


100         SERVICE  ON  THE  INDIAN  RESERVATIONS. 

Heber,  Utah,  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  miles. 
Green  River,  Wyoming,  and  Provo,  Utah,  each  one 
hundred  and  sixty  miles,  were  the  nearest  accessible 
railroad  and  telegraph  stations,  and  Fort  Douglass,  at 
Salt  Lake  City,  two  hundred  miles,  the  nearest  army 
post. 

The  Reservation  consists  mostly  of  mountains  and 
deserts.  On  Green,  DuChesne  and  White  Rivers,  and 
a  few  smaller  streams,  there  are  some  irrigable  valleys, 
which,  with  water,  could  be  made  highly  productive. 
But  of  the  two  million  acres  embraced  in  its  limits  not 
one  could  be  relied  on  to  produce  a  crop  of  any  kind 
without  irrigation. 

It  is  almost  a  rainless  region.  On  the  mountain 
ranges  there  is  a  great  deal  of  snow  in  the  winter,  but 
at  the  Agency  it  is  not  unusual  to  see  three  hundred 
and  fifty  perfectly  clear  days  in  the  year.  Indeed,  the 
Reservation  has  been  described  as  so  many  "acres  of 
clear  sky." 

Soon  after  I  had  installed  myself  as  Acting  Agent,  the 
employes  all  came  in  together  to  report. 

At  the  head  of  the  roll  vvas  Mr.  W.  A.  McKewen, 
the  clerk,  whom  I  afterwards  came  to  know  as  one  of 
the  most  capable  and  trustworthy  clerks  in  the  ser 
vice,  and  as  brave  a  young  man  as  ever  ventured  into 
Indian  country.  He  was  a  native  of  Baltimore,  and 


EXPERIENCES  OF  A  SPECIAL   INDIAN   AGENT.       101 

only  twenty-three  years  old.  His  business  education 
was  of  the  most  excellent  charac 
ter,  and  no  matter  what  his  associa 
tions  or  surroundings  were,  he  always 
demeaned  himself  as  a  well-bred, 
honorable  and  manly  young  man. 

Dr.  C.  M.  Sawtelle,  of  California, 
was  physician;  Stephen  A.  Dole,' 
nephew  of  a  former  Commissioner- 
of  Indian  Affairs,  was  commissary  w- A- 
clerk;  John  Blankenship,  the  only  one  who  had  a 
family,  was  farmer;  E.  W.  Davis  was  carpenter; 
Bertram  Haight  blacksmith ;  John  McAndrews  chief 
herder,  and  John  A.  McDonald  and  Frank  Gidney 
herders.  No  Agent  ever  had  a  better  force,  in  pro 
portion  to  numbers.  They  were  well  suited  to  their 
respective  places,  and  were  always  cheerful,  obedient 
and  faithful  in  the  performance  of  every  duty. 

On  the  second  day  we  began  the  work  of  making  an 
inventory  of  the  Agency  property.  The  Agents  are 
charged  with  all  property  sent  to  their  Agencies,  and 
are  required  to  make  quarterly  settlements,  in  which 
they  take  credit  for  everything  issued  to  the  Indians,  or 
lost,  destroyed,  or  expended  in  the  service. 

The  annual  supplies  are  furnished  upon  contracts 
which  are  extensively  advertised  for  and  publicly  let  in 


102         SERVICE  ON  THE  INDIAN  RESERVATIONS. 

New  York  and  San  Francisco  by  the  Commissioner  of 
Indian  Affairs  upon  estimates  submitted  by  the  Agents. 
These  supplies  consist  of  beef,  flour,  salt,  bacon,  sugar, 
coffee,  beans,  soap,  blankets,  shawls,  shoes,  clothing, 
wagons,  farm  implements,  Agency  equipments,  school 
and  medical  supplies.  The  beef  is  always  delivered  on 
foot  at  the  Agencies  by  the  contractors  themselves,  but 
all  the  other  supplies  are  generally  transported  from  the 
principal  markets  of  the  country  by  transportation  con 
tractors.  Sometimes  in  emergencies  Agents  are  fur 
nished  with  money  and  authorized  to  purchase  certain 
supplies  themselves  in  open  market  in  the  vicinity  of 
their  Agencies. 

One  item  of  the  public  property  for  which  the  Agent 
at  Ouray  was  responsible  was  a  herd  of  two  thousand 
five  hundred  head  of  cattle,  scattered  over  a  meagre, 
sagebrush  range  fifty  miles  in  extent.  Another  at 
Uintah  Agency  was  "one  irrigating  canal,  nine  miles 
long,"  and  it  was  the  only  piece  of  Government  prop 
erty  that  I  ever  receipted  for  with  a  feeling  of  safety. 

Before  the  close  of  the  first  day  news  of  my  arrival 
had  been  carried  by  runners  to  all  parts  of  the  Reserva 
tion — even  to  Colorow's  band  in  Colorado — and  in  the 
afternoon  a  runner  came  from  Saponero  to  ask  when  I 
was  going  up  to  his  camp  to  hold  a  council  with  him 
and  his  people.  He  was  then  camped  six  or  seven 
miles  up  DuChesne  River. 


EXPERIENCES  OF  A  SPECIAL    INDIAN   AGENT.       103 

Manifestly  this  was  a  play  of  the  wily  old  savage  to 
test  my  executive  strength  and  skill.  I  told  the  runner 
to  go  back  and  tell  him  that  for  some  days  I  would  be 
occupied  with  business  at  the  Agency,  but  that  if  any 
Indian  on  the  Reservation  had  anything  to  say  to  me  I 
would  hear  him  at  the  office  whenever  it  suited  him  to 
come. 

After  hanging  about  the  office  and  watching  me  two 
or  three  hours,  with  his  blanket  drawn  up  so  as  to  con 
ceal  all  of  his  face  except  just  one  eye,  the  runner  sud 
denly  turned  from  the  doorcasing  where  he  had  been 
peeping  in,  mounted  his  pony  and  started  back  to  camp 
in  a  lope,  the  usual  gait  of  the  blanket  Indian  on  horse 
back. 

Late  in  the  afternoon  two  young  head  men  came  down 
and  told  me  that  Colorow  was  expected  to  arrive  that 
night,  and  that  he  and  Saponero  and  all  the  under 
chiefs  and  head  men  of  the  tribe  would  come  in  on  the 
following  day  to  hold  a  long  council  with  me  on  busi 
ness  of  the  greatest  importance. 

A  council  called  for  by  the  Indians  themselves  was 
exactly  what  I  wanted.  I  had  confidence  enough  in 
myself  to  believe  that  if  I  could  get  them  to  talking  with 
me  I  could  pacify  them,  at  least  temporarily,  and  avert 
an  outbreak.  Indeed,  that  seemed  to  be  our  only  hope. 
And  to  carry  out  that  plan  I  knew  I  would  have  to  hold 


104         SERVICE  ON  THE  INDIAN  RESERVATIONS. 

on  firmly  to  my  authority  as  Agent,  show  no  uneasiness, 
and  perhaps  make  free  use  of  the  strategem  known  in 
the  vernacular  of  the  West  as  "bluff." 

About  9  o'clock  next  morning,  as  Mr.  McKewen  and 
I  were  crossing  the  plaza  to  the  office,  we  saw  a  bril 
liantly  costumed  and  splendidly  mounted  Indian  ascend 
from  DuChesne  River  bottom  about  a  mile  away,  on 
the  road  leading  down  from  Uintah  Agency.  He  sat 
his  horse  like  a  knight  of  old,  and  as  the  rays  of  the 
morning  sun  flashed  on  the  tinsel  of  his  costume  he  was 
as  magnificent  a  figure  as  I  ever  saw  on  horseback.  It 
was  Saponero. 

As  we  stood  and  looked  another  Indian  came  in  sight, 
about  five  paces  behind  the  first,  and  then  another 
about  the  same  distance  in  rear  of  the  second,  and  in 
that  order  they  continued  to  come  until  we  had  counted 
one  hundred  and  forty-two.  From  that  point  the  road 
ran  half  a  mile  at  an  oblique  angle,  and  as  they  stretched 
away  in  single  file,  and  marched  in  a  slow  walk,  broad 
side  to  us,  across  the  level  mesa,  they  presented  a  truly 
imposing  savage  array. 

Colorow,  accompanied  by  twenty-five  or  thirty  men, 
but  no  women  or  children,  had  come  in  very  early  in 
the  morning  and  established  camp  near  the  Agency. 
They  looked  like  they  had  traveled  all  night,  and  we 
afterwards  found  out  that  they  had  in  fact  come  from 


EXPERIENCES  OF  A  SPECIAL   INDIAN   AGENT.       105 

Garfield  County,  Colorado,  fifty  or  sixty  miles  distant, 
since  sunset  the  evening  before. 

Saponero  and  his  followers  rode  straight  to  Colorovv's 
camp,  where  about  three-fourths  of  them  immediately 
dismounted  and  seated  themselves  flat  on  the  ground 
for  a  council  with  the  Colorado  band,  leaving  the  rest 
holding  the  horses. 


106         SERVICE  ON  THE  INDIAN  RESERVATIONS. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

MY   FIRST   COUNCIL  WITH  THE  UTES — SAPONERO,  COL- 
OROW  AND  CAPTAIN  BILLY — "A  PURTY  GOOD  IDEA" 
— EXTRICATED   FROM  A   DANGEROUS   DILEMMA   BY  A 
.YOUNG  SQUAW  INTERPRETER. 

^  I  ^HE  council  at  Colorow's  camp  lasted  about  an 
•*•  hour.  At  its  conclusion  the  Indians  all  came 
across  the  plaza  to  the  office,  Saponero  and  Colorow 
walking  together  in  front.  As  many  as  could  find 
room  in  the  large  office  crowded  in  and  seated  them 
selves  on  the  floor,  and  all  the  rest  bunched  up  against 
the  door  and  windows,  the  pony  holders  crowding  close 
upon  the  heels  of  those  standing  on  the  ground. 

A  good  natured,  happy  sort  of  an  Indian  named 
Captain  Billy  had  previously  been  introduced  to  me  as 
the  Agency  interpreter.  He  was  now  seated  flat  on 
the  floor  at  the  right-hand  of  Saponero,  whom  he  evi 
dently  regarded  as  the  greatest  man  on  earth,  and  the 
comical,  owl-like  expression  of  his  countenance  showed 
that  he  was  almost  overwhelmed  by  his  sense  of  the 
gravity  of  the  occasion  and  the  tremendous  responsibili 
ties  of  his  position. 


EXPERIENCES  OF  A  SPECIAL   INDIAN   AGENT.       107 

And  ominous  as  the  situation  seemed  to  be,  I 
could  not  refrain  from  laughing  outright  when  I  turned 
from  Captain  Billy  to  take  a  good  look  at  Colorow  and 
thought  about  Bill  Nye's  humorous  biographical  sketch 
of  him  as  Brigadier  General  Wm.  H.  Colorow.  Colo- 
row's  wardrobe  had  probably  never  contained  anything 
more  military  than  paint  and  feathers,  and  nothing  could 
have  been  more  ridiculous  than  the  thought  of  that 
stalwart  old  "coffee  cooler"  strutting  around  in  striped 
trousers,  plumed  hat,  shoulder  straps,  sash  and  sabre, 
unless  it  was  the  figure  which  he  himself  cut  at  the 
Denver  Exposition  the  year  before.  On  that  occasion 
he  fell  into  the  hands  of  some  mischievous  drummers 
who  dressed  him  up  in  one  of  their  beautifully  em 
broidered  night  robes  and  turned  him  loose  in  the  expo 
sition  hall  in  broad  daylight  in  that  usually  secluded 
garment.  The  old  man  was  entirely  guileless,  and 
innocently  and  proudly  paraded  the  streets  and  exposi 
tion  hall  in  his  "white  man  coat,"  as  he  called  it,  until 
the  police  enticed  him  into  a  patrol  wagon  and  hauled 
him  off  to  the  guardhouse,  where  they  double-teamed 
on  him  and  made  him  swap  his  beautiful  robe  of  many 
frills  and  figures  for  a  dingy  old  horse  blanket. 

When  all  the  Indians  had  settled  themselves  on  the 
floor  and  become  quiet,  Saponero  slowly  arose,  ad 
vanced  and  shook  hands  with  me,  and,  with  great 
solemnity,  began  his  speech. 


108          SERVICE  ON  THE  INDIAN  RESERVATIONS. 

Saponero  was  of  medium  height,  lean  and  sinewy, 
and  apparently  sixty  years  of  age.  Hard  lines  marked 
all  of  his  features.  One  could  almost  doubt  that  they 
had  ever  been  illuminated  by  a  more  genial  light  than 
the  smile  of  incredulity  and  derision.  Evidences  of 
strong  individuality,  obstinacy,  savage  ignorance  and 
superstition  were  visible  in  his  face,  but  the  things 
plainest  to  be  seen  in  the  gleam  of  his  eyes  and  the  curl 
and  quiver  of  his  lips  were  hatred  of  the  white  race,  and 
a  heart  troubled  to  the  point  of  absolute  desperation. 

Beginning  slowly,  he  spoke  a  few  sentences  with 
remarkable  ease  and  dignity,  and  then  paused  for  Cap 
tain  Billy  to  interpret  his  words  to  me  in  English,  which, 
to  my  astonishment,  the  Captain  proceeded  to  do  as 
follows : 

"Saponero  say  he  glad  to  see  you.  All  lee  Injuns 
glad  to  see  you.  Maybe  Washington  send  you  to  tend 
to  it  some  business  for  Injun.  Maybe  dat  purty  good 
idea." 

"What  else  did  he  say?"  I  asked,  "that  is  not  all." 

"Dat's  all  Saponero  say,"  he  replied,  as  he  nodded 
with  great  assurance  to  the  chief  to  go  ahead.  At  the 
next  pause,  instead  of  attempting  to  interpret  that  part, 
he  coolly  waved  it  aside  as  if  it  was  of  no  consequence 
whatever,  and  merely  said  by  way  of  explanation : 

"Oh,  Saponero,  maybe  he  jes  talk  about  it  some 
tings  long  time  ago.  Dat  make  no  diffunce." 


EXPERIENCES  OF  A  SPECIAL   INDIAN    AGENT.       109 

"Look  here,  now/'  I  commanded,  "no  more  'may 
be  so'  and  'dat  make  no  diffunce.'  You  tell  me  what 
Saponero  says." 

"Yes.  I  telly  you  what  Saponero  say.  Dat's  de 
bes'  way,"  he  replied. 

Saponero's  next  sentence  was  a  long  one.  When  he 
paused  Billy  said : 

"Saponero  he  talk  about  it  long  time  ago  make  it  de 
treaty.  I  speck  he  want  to  talk  about  it  white  man 
shoot  at  Colorow,  and  steal  Injun  Reservation,  annuity 
money,  everything,  and  Injun  heap  mad  now  and  purty 
soon  fight.  I  speck  Saponero  want  to  talk  about  it 
heap  o'  tings  like  dat.  Dat  purty  good  idea." 

"Yes,  I  'speck'  so  myself;  but  why  don't  you  tell 
me  what  he  does  say?"  I  demanded  rather  sharply. 

"Dat's  all  Saponero  say — jes  like  I  tell  you,"  he 
answered. 

By  this  time  I  was  satisfied  that  the  Captain  was  an 
interpreter  who  could  not  interpret — who  could  not 
speak  English  much  better  than  I  could  speak  Ute.  I 
asked  Mr.  McKewen  if  we  could  not  get  a  more  capable 
person.  He  said  that  there  was  but  one  other  Indian 
on  the  Reservation  who  could  interpret  even  as  well  as 
Captain  Billy,  and  that  was  a  squaw.  She  was  then 
living  with  relatives  in  camp  near  the  Agency,  but  she 
had  been  reared  in  a  Mormon  family,  and  was  a  great 


110         SERVICE  ON  THE  INDIAN  RESERVATIONS. 

deal  more  competent  than  the  Captain.  We  sent  for 
her. 

Saponero  then  delivered  another  section  of  his  speech, 
and  when  he  paused  that  time  Captain  Billy  said : 

"Jes  like  I  tell  you.  Saponero  jes  talk  about  it  some 
tings  long  time  ago.  Maybe  some  tings  about  treaty. 
Maybe  Washington  tell  you  about  it  dat  treaty.  Dat 
purty  good  idea.  Long  time  ago  Uncompahgres  live 
in  Colorado.  By  and  by  make  it  dat  treaty  and  come 
over  dis  side  line.  Now,  fust  ting  Injun  know  white 
man  steal  it  de  line.  Maybe  dat  what  Saponero  talk 
about." 

"Maybe  so,  you  pop-eyed  bronco  !  Don't  you  know 
what  he  is  talking  about?"  I  said  with  some  severity, 
for  I  realized  the  great  danger  of  trying  to  hold  a  coun 
cil  with  Indians,  especially  in  their  then  desperate  frame 
of  mind,  through  an  ignorant  interpreter.  He  replied: 

"Saponero  talk  about  treaty — jes  like  I  tell  you. 
Dat  treaty  purty  good  idea,  Saponero  say." 

Manifestly  it  was  not  only  useless,  but  positively  dan 
gerous,  to  continue  the  council  with  him.  He  seemed 
to  be  doing  the  best  he  could,  but  his  mental  vision  was 
so  narrow  and  his  knowledge  of  the  English  language 
so  nearly  limited  to  the  phrase  "purty  good  idea,"  that, 
however  good  his  intentions,  he  was  liable  to  convey 
erroneous  impressions  to  the  minds  of  the  Indians,  or 


EXPERIENCES  OF  A  SPECIAL   INDIAN   AGENT.       Ill 

lead  them  into  positive  misunderstandings,  that,  instead 
of  allaying  their  dissatisfaction,  might  increase  it  even 
to  the  point  of  precipitating  trouble  at  once. 

Seeing  no  other  "purty  good  idea"  leading  out  of 
this  dilemma,  I  frankly  told  Captain  Billy  that  his  En 
glish  was  but  little  more  intelligible  to  me  than  undiluted 
Ute — that  in  fact  I  was  not  sure  that  I  could  understand 
him  any  better  than  I  could  Saponero — and  asked  him 
to  tell  Saponero  that  I  had  sent  for  the  girl  to  help  in 
terpret,  and  thought  it  safer  to  await  her  arrival.  How 
he  interpreted  it  *to  Saponero  of  course  the  Indians  and 
the  Great  Spirit  alone  know.  But  whether  he  did  it 
correctly  or  incorrectly,  it  greatly  intensified  the  look  of 
distress  in  the  old  man's  already  painfully  troubled  face. 

Saponero  turned  to  Colorow  and  conversed  with  him 
and  the  other  chiefs  in  a  very  earnest  and  much  troubled 
manner  for  five  or  ten  minutes.  Then  Colorow  arose, 
shook  hands  with  me,  and  proceeded  to  speak,  his  voice 
unmistakably  betraying  suppressed  anger  and  excite 
ment. 

Captain  Billy's  face  had  assumed  a  look  of  bewilder 
ment,  and  I  was  satisfied  that  he  had  blundered  badly 
in  his  interpretation  of  my  words  and  meaning  to  the 
Indians.  Because  of  this,  and  the  actions  of  Colorow, 
Saponero  and  several  others,  I  began  to  fear  that  they 
might  become  aroused  to  action  before  the  girl  inter 
preter  could  come  to  our  rescue. 


112         SERVICE  ON  THE  INDIAN  RESERVATIONS. 

When  Colorow  had  spoken  several  sentences,  he 
motioned  to  Captain  Billy,  who  said: 

"Colorow  say  all  lee  Injuns'  hearts  heap  sick.  Bad 
white  mans  make  it  a  heap  o'  troubles.  Maybe  some 
Injuns  purty  quick  fight  now.  Young  men  heap  mad 
— heap  bad  talk.  Squaws  jes  all  time  cry.  Colorow 
say  hole  on  little  bit,  maybe  Washington  fix  it.  Young 
men  say  'No;  Washington  heap  talk — jes  all  time  talk 
— but  no  fix  it.'  Purty  bad.  Colorado  cattlemans 
shoot  at  Colorow,  maybe  so  seventeen  times,  maybe  so 
forty  times,  yudder  day.  Shoot  two  Colorow's  young 
men,  and  kill  it  Colorow's  pony.  What  you  tink  of  it 
dat,  Colorow  say?" 

Of  course  !  What  did  I  think  of  it,  that?  Evidently 
Colorow  was  magnanimous  enough  to  allow  the  "Colo 
rado  cattlemans"  to  state  their  side  of  the  case  them 
selves,  for  he  refrained  from  any  allusion  to  the  fact  that 
he  and  his  band  had  shot  back  at  them  perhaps  three 
or  four  times  "seventeen  or  forty  times,"  and  chased 
them  clear  out  of  Garfield  County.  I  told  McKewen  in 
undertone  that  I  intended  to  evade  the  question  if  I 
could,  but  if  pressed  for  an  answer  I  believed  I  should 
frankly  admit  to  the  old  man  that  as  matters  then  stood 
I  was  very  much  dissatisfied  with  the  marksmanship  of 
the  "Colorado  cattlemans,"  and  asked  him  what  he 
thought  about  it,  as  he  seemed  to  be  doing  considerable 


EXPERIENCES  OF  A  SPECIAL   INDIAN   AGENT.       113 

thinking  just  then.  He  replied  that  "a  band  of  men 
who  had  opportunity  to  shoot  seventeen  or  forty  times 
at  Colorow  and  failed  to  kill  him  deserved  to  be  driven 
out  of  the  State." 

Just  then  the  messenger  came  in  with  the  young 
squaw  interpreter.  Declining  a  chair  which  I  offered 
her,  she  sat  down  on  the  floor  by  the  side  of  Captain 
Billy.  I  told  her  why  I  had  sent  for  her,  and  asked 
her  to  explain  it  to  the  Indians,  which  she  did.  From 
the  time  that  Captain  Billy  told  them  that  I  had  sent 
for  her  they  had  been  doing  a  great  deal  of  talking 
among  themselves,  and  her  statement  set  half  of  them 
to  talking  and  grunting  at  once,  which  seemed  to  startle 
her.  Finally  Saponero  arose,  waved  his  hand  over  the 
crowd,  said  something  which  produced  silence,  and  then 
turning  to  me,  began  to  speak.  I  saw  the  girl  cower. 
When  he  paused  and  motioned  to  her,  she  said,  in  a 
clear  voice  and  distinct  articulation : 

"Saponero  tells  me  to  tell  you  that  I  am  a  squaw, 
and  that  Ute  chiefs  and  warriors  do  not  sit  in  council 
with  squaws ;  that  I  must  keep  my  lips  closed ;  that 
Billy  is  the  interpreter,  and  he  must  interpret." 

Turning  again  to  McKewen,  whose  exasperation  and 
sense  of  danger  was  about  to  overcome  his  usual  patience 
and  amiability,  I  asked  him  what  he  would  think  of  a 
cattleman,  or  any  other  sort  of  man,  who  could  not  hit 


114        SERVICE  ON  THE  INDIAN  RESERVATIONS. 

Saponero  the  first  fire?  For  answer  he  said  he  wished 
he  had  a  big  cannon  loaded  with  buckshot  and  tacks 
with  which  to  take  what  a  hunter  would  call  "a  pot 
shot"  at  the  whole  crowd. 

All  efforts  to  induce  Saponero  to  allow  the  girl  to 
interpret  proving  futile,  and  determining  to  take  no  fur 
ther  risk  with  Captain  Billy,  I  had  made  up  my  mind 
to  give  up  the  council  as  a  failure  when  the  girl  volun 
teered  the  information  that  a  competent  white  inter 
preter  named  James  Davis  was  then  visiting  his  brother, 
an  employe  at  Uintah,  and  she  had  no  doubt  he  would 
come  to  our  assistance  if  requested  to  do  so. 

Saponero  being  acquainted  with  Davis,  he  readily 
assented  to  an  adjournment  of  the  council  until  I  could 
send  for  him,  and  as  this  was  announced  every  Indian 
present  mounted  his  pony  and  departed  for  camp  in  a 
lope,  not  one  waiting  for  another,  and  the  chiefs  barely 
taking  time  to  shake  hands  with  me  and  McKewen  as 
they  hurried  out  of  the  office. 


EXPERIENCES  OF  A  SPECIAL    INDIAN   AGENT.       115 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

ORDERED  TO  UINTAH  AGENCY  —  TAKE  CHARGE  OF 
THAT  AGENCY  ALSO  —  THE  UINTAH  AND  WHITE 
RIVER  UTES  —  DESCRIPTION  OF  THE  RESERVATION 
AND  AGENCY. 

the  second  day  after  the  council  described  in 
the  preceding'chapter,  I  received  a  dispatch  to 
proceed  immediately  to  Uintah  and  take  charge  of  that 
Agency  also. 

It  is  hardly  necessary  to  say  that  I  could  not  regard 
this  order  otherwise  than  as  the  reverse  of  what  Captain 
Billy  would  call  "a  purty  good  idea  '  It  threw  the  re 
sponsibilities  of  both  Agencies  upon  me  at  a  most  crit 
ical  time  and  subjected  me  and  the  employes  to  the 
great  hardship  and  danger  of  frequent  trips  between  the 
two  places.  It  also  conveyed  the  information  that  the 
two  Agencies  were  to  be  consolidated,  and  that  there 
after  all  the  Indians  on  both  Reservations  were  to  be 
under  one  Agent — or  one  Agent  under  all  the  Indians, 
as  the  scales  might  finally  turn — information  which,  in 
the  very  nature  of  the  case,  it  would  be  impossible  to 


116         SERVICE  ON  THE  INDIAN  RESERVATIONS. 

long  conceal  from  them,  and  which  McKewen  and  I 
knew  would  greatly  augment  the  dissatisfaction  of  the 
Uncompahgres,  at  least,  and  perhaps  blot  out  any  good 
impression  or  pacificatory  effect  that  our  recent  council 
may  have  had  upon  them. 

But  right  or  wrong,  prudent  or  ill-considered,  the 
order  had  to  be  obeyed,  and  leaving  McKewen  as  my 
representative  at  Ouray,  I  started  to  Uintah  at  sunrise 
the  next  morning,  accompanied  by  Mr.  Davis,  the 
Ouray  carpenter. 

Seven  miles  out  from  the  Agency  we  left  the  main 
road  on  the  mesa  and  drove  dowm  into  DuChesne  bot 
tom  to  pay  our  respects  to  Saponero,  who  was  en 
camped  there  with  his  entire  individual  band,  which 
Davis  said  consisted  of  about  six  hundred  Indians  and 
two  thousand  dogs.  The  old  man  was  glad  to  see 
us,  and  as  he  disliked  the  Agent  at  Uintah,  he  was 
also  pleased  to  hear  that  he  had  been  "cut  off,"  as  the 
Indians  call  a  dismissal. 

We  arrived  at  Uintah  at  4  o'clock  in  the  afternoon. 
As  we  drove  up  we  saw  a  man  in  shirt  sleeves  standing 
in  front  of  one  of  the  traders'  stores,  whom  I  instinct 
ively  recognized  as  the  Agent.  He  was  looking  at  us 
with  his  hat  cocked  over  on  one  side  of  '  *s  head  and 
his  thumbs  hitched  in  the  arm  holes  of  nis  vest.  The 
thought  flashed  through  my  mind  that  certainly  the 


EXPERIENCES  OF  A  SPECIAL   INDIAN    AGENT.       117 

Indians  could  hardly  be  blamed  for  merely  kicking  him, 
as  they  were  reported  to  have  recently  done. 

Standing  in  the  office  door  was  a  pug-nosed  young 
man  whom  I  recognized  in  Hke  manner  as  the  clerk. 
His  hair  had  just  been  mowed  down  to  the  skin  with 
barbers'  clippers,  prison  style,  and  as  he  stood  there  in 
high  heeled  boots,  red  flannel  shirt  and  corduroy  trou 
sers,  holding  a  broad-brimmed  white  hat  in  his  hand, 
and  with  a  countenance  to  match,  I  wondered  why  the 
Indians  had  not  kicked  him  some  too. 

The  Agent  having  been  notified  from  Washington 
to  be  ready  for  me,  he  requested  me  to  relieve  him  at 
once,  which  I  did,  and  immediately  dismissed  the  clerk 
also. 

As  may  be  imagined,  my  sudden  arrival  and  as 
sumption  of  authority,  and  summary  dismissal  of  the 
clerk,  produced  something  of  a  panic  among  the  em 
ployes.  From  the  office  I  could  see  them  dodging 
about  as  if  each  one  expected  his  time  to  come  next. 

The  Indians  belonging  to  Uintah  Agency  are  the 
Uintah  and  White  River  Bands  of  Utes — the  former 
numbering  500  and  the  latter  600.  The  Uintahs  are  by 
far  the  most  tractable  and  peaceably  disposed  of  all  the 
Utes,  but  it  can  hardly  be  said  that  they  are  any  more 
enlightened  than  the  rest  of  the  tribe. 

And   the   White  Rivers   have  even  a  worse    reputa- 


118          SERVICE  ON  THE  INDIAN  RESERVATIONS. 

tion  and  more  bloody  history  than  the  Uncompahgres. 
They  are  the  identical  Indians  who,  less  than  seven  years 
before,  or  in  September,  1879,  committed  the  Meeker 
Massacre,  and  fought  the  battle  in  which  Major  Thorn- 
burgh  was  killed. 

They  then  belonged  to  the  White  River  Agency  in 
Colorado,  and  Meeker  was  their  Agent.  Suddenly  one 
day  they  broke  out  and  killed  and  mutilated  in  the 
most  shockingly  barbarous  manner  every  white  person 
on  the  Reservation,  except  the  Agent's  wife  and  daugh 
ter,  and  the  Agency  farmer's  wife,  who  escaped  death 
by  hiding,  but  were  afterwards  discovered  and  held  in 
horrible  captivity  for  three  months. 

It  is  said  that  the  chiefs  themselves  killed  the  Agent 
as  they  were  returning  with  him  to  the  office  from  his 
house,  where  they  had  just  been  his  guests  at  dinner, 
and  that  the  massacre  was  all  over  with  in  thirty  minutes. 

A  few  days  later  they  attacked  a  column  of  troops 
under  Major  Thornburgh,  as  it  was  marching  through 
a  canyon  to  the  relief  of  the  Agency.  The  attack  lasted 
two  days,  and  the  troops  suffered  terribly  in  killed  and 
wounded,  Major  Thornburgh  himself  being  killed  at 
the  first  fire.  The  Indians  were  so  securely  concealed 
and  intrenched  behind  the  rocks  on  the  walls  of  the 
canyon  that  the  troops  could  neither  see  them  nor  dis 
lodge  them,  and  every  time  a  soldier  exposed  himself 


EXPERIENCES  OF  A  SPECIAL   INDIAN   AGENT.      119 

to  their  sight  he  was  instantly  killed  or  wounded.  The 
entire  command  was  held  in  this  critical  situation  until 
re-enforcements  arrived  and  came  down  on  the  Indians 
from  above. 

Their  punishment  for  that  outbreak  had  been  ex 
tremely  light,  and  now  they  were  reported  to  be  again 
discontented  and  threatening. 

The  Uintali  Reservation,  which  is  occupied  in  com 
mon  by  the  White  Rivers  and  the  Uintahs,  embraces 
the  famous  valley  of  the  DuChesne  River  and  its  trib 
utaries  —  the  Strawberry  and  Uintah  Rivers,  and  many 
smaller  streams. 

This  is  the  finest  valley  in  Utah,  the  justly  re 
nowned  valley  of  the  Great  Salt  Lake  not  excepted.  Its 
length  is  estimated  at  eighty  miles,  and  its  average 
width  at  twenty-five  miles.  It  is  abundantly  watered, 
and  nearly  all  irrigable.  The  surface  is  generally 
smooth,  though  with  enough  slope  to  give  good  velocity 
to  all  the  water  courses,  which,  being  mostly  fed  by 
melting  snows  in  the  mountains,  are  fuller  in  summer 
than  in  winter. 

Notwithstanding  it  has  a  mean  elevation  of  perhaps 
six  thousand  feet  above  the  sea,  the  valley  has  the  form 
of  a  basin,  being  entirely  encircled  by  the  Uintah  Moun 
tains.  The  atmosphere  is  so  wonderfully  clear  that  this 
lofty  mountain  wall  may  be  plainly  seen  entirely  across 


120         SERVICE  ON  THE  INDIAN  RESERVATIONS. 

from  one  end  or  one  side  of  the  valley  to  the  other. 
Coming  down  the  valley  on  the  road  from  Salt  Lake 
City  the  Agency  office — only  one  story  high — can  be 
seen  a  distance  of  forty  miles.  From  the  office  door  I 
have  seen  covered  wagons  a  distance  of  twelve  miles, 
and  with  a  spyglass  I  have  seen  horses  up  at  the  snow- 
line  on  Mount  Gilbert,  which  I  was  told  was  fifteen 
miles.  Mount  Gilbert  is  the  highest  peak  in  Utah,  and 
is  perpetually  snow-capped.  It  sits  directly  in  the  rear, 
and  in  plain  view,  of  the  Agency. 

The  Agency  is  located  at  White  Rocks  post  office, 
near  Uintah  River.  The  buildings  consist  of  Agency 
office  and  warehouse,  council  house,  saw  and  grist  mill, 
blacksmith  shop,  wood  shop,  barn,  doctor's  office, 
schoolhouse,  Agent's  dwelling,  several  employes'  dwell 
ings,  and  two  traders'  stores  and  dwellings.  These  build 
ings  all  front  on  a  plaza  about  seventy-five  yards  wide 
and  a  hundred  and  fifty  yards  long.  The  elevation  of 
the  place  is  said  to  be  six  thousand  six  hundred  feet 
above  sea  level,  and  rains  are  almost  as  infrequent  there 
as  at  Ouray. 


EXPERIENCES  OF  A  SPECIAL    INDIAN    AGENT.       121 


CHAPTER   XV. 

THE  EMPLOYES  AT  UINTAH — OMINOUS  MOVEMENTS — 
WHITE  MEN  INSTIGATING  THE  INDIANS  TO  AN  OUT 
BREAK — A  CLUE  TO  THE  PLOT. 

EARLY  next  morning  I  summoned  all  the  employes 
to  the  office.  As  they  filed  in  uneasiness  was 
plainly  depicted  in  all  their  faces,  and  some  of  them 
even  looked  as  if  they  expected  something  awful  to 
happen.  Dr.  B.  D.  Williams  was  physician,  John 
Hemsworth  farmer,  Abraham  Coon  carpenter,  Enoch 
Davis  blacksmith,  Frank  Boan  and  Clarence  A.  Granger 
herders.  They  had  all  been  appointed  from  Utah,  ex 
cept  Dr.  Williams,  who  was  from  Alabama,  and  Mr. 
Hemsworth,  who  was  from  Missouri. 

After  receiving  reports  from  them  concerning  their 
respective  departments,  I  said  a  few  words  to  them 
which  produced  a  remarkable  change  in  their  counte 
nances,  and  they  returned  to  their  work  expressing  great 
satisfaction  with  the  "council,"  as  they  called  it. 

The  remainder  of  the  forenoon  was  devoted  to  look 
ing  over  the  Agency  and  getting  acquainted  with  its 


122         SERVICE  ON  THE  INDIAN  RESERVATIONS. 

equipments.  In  the  afternoon  we  began  making  an  in 
ventory  of  the  property,  and  were  occupied  at  that  work 
most  of  the  time  during  the  next  ten  days. 

Very  little  had  been  seen  of  the  White  Rivers  since 
my  arrival,  and  by  the  time  we  had  completed  the  in 
ventory  they  had  ceased  their  visits  to  the  office  almost 
entirely,  and  were  reported  to  be  spending  nearly  all 
their  time  in  council  at  Chief  Sowawick's  camp,  which 
was  situated  only  a  little  over  a  mile  from  the  Agency, 
but  in  a  secluded  place  on  the  opposite  side  of  White 
Rocks  Creek. 

These  signs,  and  increasing  indications  of  restlessness 
and  discontent  among  some  of  the  young  bucks  of  the 
Uintah  band,  were  beginning  to  be  regarded  by  the 
employes  and  myself  as  ominous  of  danger,  and  I  was 
in  the  act  of  sending  for  the  White  River  chiefs  to  come 
in  and  explain  their  meaning  when' Big  Tom,  Antero, 
Tokawana  and  two  or  three  other  Uintah  chiefs,  volun 
tarily  appeared  at  the  office  and  gave  me  that  informa 
tion  themselves. 

In  the  few  previous  interviews  that  I  had  had  with 
these  Uintahs  I  had  listened  to  them  with  patience  and 
sympathy,  as  I  always  tried  to  do  with  all  Indians,  and 
I  now  had  the  satisfaction  of  seeing  them  disposed  to 
talk  with  me  in  unreserved  confidence. 

Big   Tom's  speech   embraced  all   that   was   said   by 


124         SERVICE  ON  THE  INDIAN  RESERVATIONS. 

them  all,  and  was  interpreted  to  me  in  substance  as 
follows  : 

"Big  Tom  hears  a  heap  of  bad  talk.  He  comes  to 
ask  you  what  it  means.  White  men  come  among  us 
and  tell  us  that  soldiers  are  coming  pretty  soon  to  make 
trouble.  Every  day  for  more  than  one  moon  white  men 
have  been  telling  this  to  our  young  men  on  the  border, 
and  now  they  are  coming  among  our  camps  and  telling 
it  to  our  chiefs,  and  even  to  our  squaws  and  pappooses. ' ' 

"We  Uintah  chiefs  have  paid  no  attention  to  this 
talk.  We  knew  that  no  wrong  had  b^een  done  by  any 
of  our  band,  and  we  have  had  brave  hearts.  We  have 
felt  no  fear  that  our  Great  Father  would  surfer  his  sol 
diers  to  hurt  any  of  us;  we  are  his  children.  We  have 
always  walked  in  the  road  that  he  and  our  little  fathers 
(Agents)  have  pointed  out  to  us,  as  well  ac  we  could. 
But  we  ask  him  to  remember  that  it  is  a  new  road  to  us. 
There  are  many  things  which  we  do  not  know  how  to 
do  like  our  white  brother.  It  will  take  us  a  long  time 
to  learn.  But  we  have  always  lived  at  peace  with  our 
palefaced  neighbors.  Go  into  our  wickiups  and  you 
will  find  no  white  scalps.  There  is  no  blood  on  our 
hands.  We  love  peace.  It  makes  our  hearts  glad  to 
see  our  squaws  and  pappooses  laugh  and  play  and  sleep 
sound." 

"But  sometimes  our  young  men  listen  to  bad  talk — 


EXPERIENCES  OF  A  SPECIAL   INDIAN   AGENT.       125 

maybe  bad  white  men — and  want  to  go  a  crooked  road. 
That  gives  us  a  great  deal  of  trouble.  We  have  to  be 
patient.  Our  Great  Father  should  remember  all  these 
things  and  forbear  with  us  as  we  have  to  forbear  with 
our  children." 

"But  two  sleeps  ago  two  white  men  came  to  Sowa- 
wick's  camp  in  the  dark  and  told  him  that  the  big 
soldier  chief,  General  Crook,  was  coming  with  a  big 
band  of  soldiers,  to  kill  some  of  the  Uncompahgre, 
White  River  and  Uintah  chiefs,  and  put  the  others  in 
the  big  guardhouse  (penitentiary)  and  take  all  the 
rest  of  the  tribe  away  off  somewhere  and  give  our  Res 
ervation  to  the  white  man.  They  said  the  soldiers  would 
be  here  in  ten  sleeps ;  that  they  saw  them  getting  off 
the  cars  at  Evanston  themselves,  and  talked  with  them. 
These  white  men  said  they  were  our  friends,  and  had 
hurried  back  to  tell  us.  They  said  we  ought  to  go  and 
drive  off  all  the  white  people,  and  take  all  the  beef  and 
flour,  and  everything  else,  at  Uintah  and  Ouray,  and 
then  go  and  meet  the  soldiers  in  the  canyons  and  fight 
them.  Two  other  white  men  went  on  to  Saponero's 
camp  and  told  him  the  same  thing." 

"The  young  men  of  the  Uncompahgre  and  White 
River  Bands  are  heap  mad.  Heap  bad  talk — talk  about 
fight.  The  chiefs  counseled  peace  until  last  night. 
Last  night  they  gave  their  consent,  and  now  their  squaws 


126         SERVICE  ON  THE  INDIAN  RESERVATIONS. 

and  pappooses  are  running  to  the  mountains,  and  the 
warriors  are  getting  ready  to  fight.  Maybe  so  fight 
to-day,  maybe  so  to-morrow.  Don't  know." 

"It  is  mighty  bad.  Many  of  our  young  men  are 
breaking  away  from  us  and  going  over  to  the  Uncom- 
pahgres  and  White  Rivers  to  help  them  fight.  Maybe 
so  some  of  them  love  Uncompahgre  and  White  River 
squaws.  Maybe  so  some  of  them  just  hot-headed  and 
foolish.  But  they  ask  us  why  Washington  soldiers  are 
coming  to  kill  our  chiefs  and  take  us  all  away  off  some 
where  and  give  our  Reservation  to  the  white  man.  We 
cannot  answer.  We  do  not  know.  They  go.  We 
cannot  stop  them." 

"Our  chief,  Tabbe,  is  a  very  old  man.  He  is  weak, 
and  blind  and  falls  down  just  .like  a  little  pappoose. 
But  Tabbe  is  a  good  man — good  man.  He  has  always 
kept  his  young  men  in  the  Great  Father's  road,  and 
lived  in  peace  with  the  white  man.  Now  the  Great 
Father  sends  his  soldiers  to  kill  Tabbe — good  man — old 
man — and  drive  all  his  people  from  their  homes  away 
off  somewhere,  they  know  not  where.  Tabbe's  heart 
heap  sick.  Last  night  Big  Tom  see  him,  Tabbe. 
Tabbe  say,  'you  go  and  ask  him,  the  Agent,  what's 
the  matter.'  We  come  to  ask  you  about  it." 

"It  is  mighty  bad,  mighty  bad.  We  want  peace. 
But  we  cannot  stand  still  and  let  the  soldiers  come  and 


EXPERIENCES  OF  A  SPECIAL   INDIAN   AGENT.       127 

kill  us.  Life  is  sweet  to  us  as  it  is  to  our  white  brother. 
We  love  our  squaws  and  pappooses,  and  they  would 
rather  die  than  be  taken  away  from  this  valley.  We 
have  lived  here  all  our  lives.  All  the  dead  of  our  tribe 
for  generations  and  generations  are  buried  here.  We 
love  the  very  earth  under  our  feet,  the  air  we  breathe, 
the  sun  that  shines  on  us,  the  plains,  the  mountains, 
this  beautiful  valley,  and  the  clear  running  waters.  We 
know  no  other  country.  We  could  never  love  any  other 
as  well." 

"But  our  squaws  and  pappooses  are  heap  scared. 
They  catch  hold  of  us  and  tremble,  and  at  night  they 
are  afraid  to  go  to  sleep.  They  just  all  the  time  cry 
and  look  for  it  the  soldiers.  Our  hearts  are  heap  sick. 
Two  suns  have  come  and  gone  since  we  closed  our  eyes 
in  sleep." 

"This  is  Big  Tom's  talk.  What  you  say?  I  ask 
you  now?' ' 

I  hope  it  is  needless  for  me  to  say  that  I  was  deeply 
touched.  I  had  heard  nearly  all  the  employes  speak  of 
Big  Tom  as  a  good  Indian.  He  was  the  confidential 
friend  and  personal  representative  of  the  blind  and 
decrepit  old  chief,  Tabbe,  who  was  held  in  high  respect 
by  the  employes  because  of  his  peaceable  disposition 
towards  the  whites  during  the  many  years  that  he  had 
been  the  active  and  advisory  leader  of  his  band.  I  had 


128          SERVICE  ON  THE  INDIAN  RESERVATIONS. 

no  doubt  of  the  sincerity  of  his  wish  to  avert  trouble  for 
peace  sake  alone.  Moreover,  his  speech  had  confirmed 
my  suspicions  that  the  Indians  were  being  instigated  to 
an  outbreak  by  white  men,  and  although  he  did  not 
know  their  names,  or  where  they  lived,  his  language 
left  no  room  for  doubt  in  my  mind  as  to  their  general 
identity,  or  their  motives. 

"Hurried  back  from  Evanston  to  tell  their  friends, 
the  Indians,  that  troops  were  coming  to  kill  and  imprison 
their  chiefs,  and  take  all  the  rest  away  off  somewhere 
and  give  their  Reservation  to  the  white  man.  Ought 
to  sack  both  Agencies  and  meet  the  troops  in  the  can 
yons  and  fight  them." 

What  did  those  statements  imply?  What  better  clue 
to  the  plot  could  be  desired  than  they  contained? 

I  pitied  Big  Tom  and  his  people  sincerely,  but  the 
strongest  emotion  I  felt  was  hot  indignation  at  the 
heartlessness  of  the  scheme  by  which  it  was  now  clear 
to  me  that  they  were  about  to  be  deluded  to  their  own 
destruction,  for  the  circumstance  must  not  be  overlooked 
that  it  not  only  involved  the  lives  and  fortunes  of  the 
Indians,  but  it  also  placed  the  lives  of  all  the  people  at 
both  Agencies,  including  my  own,  in  jeopardy. 

And  with  my  rising  indignation  all  my  sensations  of 
fear  gave  way  to  an  eagerness  to  expose  the  plot  to  the 
whole  tribe,  and  a  strong  feeling  of  confidence  in  my 


EXPERIENCES  OF  A  SPECIAL   INDIAN    AGENT.       129 

ability  to  stay  the  uplifted  hand,  and  turn  the  attempted 
mischief  to  good  account  in  pacifying  the  Indians,  if  I 
could  only  get  the  White  Rivers  into  council  and  word 
to  the  Uncompahgres  before  a  blow  was  struck. 

But  from  Big  Tom's  statement  the  Uncompahgres 
and  White  Rivers  were  both  ready,  and  liable  to  begin 
at  any  moment,  as  the  latter  had  done  at  Meeker  less 
than  seven  years  before.  It  was  now  near  nightfall  and 
a  council  could  not  be  had  with  the  White  Rivers,  or 
word  communicated  to  the  Uncompahgres  until  next 
morning. 

And  what  could  I  say  or  do  to  hold  the  situation  in 
statu  quo  until  that  time?  What  would  it  be  discreet  to 
say  to  Big  Tom?  It  would  not  do  to  turn  him  away 
with  a  palpable  evasion.  And  yet  the  most  insignifi 
cant  imprudent  utterance,  or  the  most  prudent  state 
ment  slightly  misunderstood,  might  precipitate  an  attack 
at  once. 

I  could  not  tell  him  that  the  troops  were  not  coming, 
because,  even  if  they  had  not  been  seen  at  Evanston,  I 
had  been  advised  that  they  would  come  soon.  And  if 
they  were  coming,  was  not  that  confirmatory  of  all  that 
the  Indians  had  been  told  by  their  night  riding  white 
"friends?" 

But  my  mind  was  made  up  by  the  time  Big  Tom  had 
ceased  speaking.  There  was  but  one  thing  to  do,  and 

(5) 


130         SERVICE  ON  THE  INDIAN  RESERVATIONS. 

I  determined  to  do  it  with  energy  and  boldness.  I  con 
gratulated  him  and  his  colleagues  earnestly  upon  their 
good  sense  and  obedience  in  coming  to  talk  with  me, 
instead  of  doing  as  the  White  River  chiefs  were  doing. 

I  told  them  also  that  I  desired  to  have  a  council  with 
all  the  Uintahs  and  White  Rivers  at  the  Agency  at  8 
o'clock  next  morning,  to  tell  them  the  truth  about  what 
they  had  heard,  and  show  them  how  they  were  about 
to  be  led  into  an  awful  mistake,  and  asked  them  if  they 
would  all  go  immediately  to  Sowawick's  camp  and  tell 
him  I  wanted  him  and  his  people  to  come,  and  bring 
back  word  to  me  whether  they  would  or  not.  I  also 
asked  them  to  send  a  runner  through  to  Saponero  that 
night  to  ask  him  and  his  people  to  meet  me  at  Ouray 
for  a  council  on  the  day  after  the  morrow.  Instead  ot 
hesitating,  they  seemed  glad  to  comply  with  my  re 
quests,  and  departed  at  once  for  Sowawick's  camp. 

Immediately  after  the  Meeker  Massacre  the  Depart 
ment  had  caused  forty  Springfield  rifles  and  ten  thous 
and  cartridges  to  be  sent  to  the  Agency  for  use  in  emer 
gency.  They  had  never  been  unboxed.  I  distributed 
them  among  the  employes,  and  made  all  other  necessary 
preparations  for  defense.  There  were  about  twenty 
guns  and  forty  pistols  at  the  Agency  besides  these. 

I  selected  a  log  house  that  had  a  stream  of  water  un 
der  it,  to  use  as  a  sort  of  fort,  and  caused  some  heavy 


EXPERIENCES  OF  A  SPECIAL  INDIAN   AGENT.      131 

slabs,  big  spikes  and  a  sledge  hammer  to  be  put  in,  with 
which  to  close  the  doors  and  windows.  I  also  had 
some  provisions  put  in,  and  some  picks,  spades,  shovels 
and  axes.  My  idea  was  that  by  firing  other  buildings 
the  Indians  might  run  us  out,  and  in  that  case  it  was 
my  plan  to  get  out  on  the  level  ground,  where  they 
would  have  no  cover  for  approach,  and  throw  up  a  little 
fort.  And  thinking  of  just  such  an  emergency  as  this, 
I  had  only  a  day  or  two  before  caused  four  saw  logs  to 
be  casually  dropped  almost  in  a  square,  right  where  I 
thought  the  fort  ought  to  be.  With  another  log  all 
around  on  top  of  these  to  protect  our  heads,  with  notches 
cut  in  the  bottom  for  port  holes,  we  would  have  a  good 
fort  without  any  digging,  except  for  water,  which  was 
obtainable  anywhere  there  at  a  depth  of  five  or  six  feet. 

Shortly  after  dark  Big  Tom  and  his  crowd  returned 
to  tell  me  that  the  White  Rivers  were  all  ready  to  fight, 
but  had  promised  to  hold  up  and  come  and  hear  what 
I  had  to  say. 

I  detailed  two  of  the  employes  to  stand  watch  in  the 
first  part  of  the  night,  and  two  in  the  latter  part.  In 
dians  rode  about  the  Agency  all  night  long  with  their 
ponies'  feet  muffled  so  that  they  made  no  more  noise 
than  kittens  would  have  done,  and  we  afterwards  learned 
that  they  had  been  doing  that  every  night  for  a  week, 
and  also  slipping  about  the  houses  on  foot. 


132         SERVICE  ON  THE  INDIAN  RESERVATIONS. 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

A  COUNCIL  WITH  THE  INDIANS — THE  PLOT  UNFOLDED 
— THE  EFFECT — HENRY  JIM  STARTS  TO  OURAY  TO 
TELL  SAPONERO. 

AT8  o'clock  next  morning  the  Indians  came  in  to 
•*•  •*-  the  council. 

The  Uintah  chiefs  looked  even  more  careworn  and 
anxious  than  they  did  the  evening  before.  Many  of 
their  young  men  came  with  the  White  Rivers,  were 
heavily  armed,  and  looked  black  and  sullen. 

Among  the  White  Rivers  pistols  could  be  seen  pro 
truding  from  the  folds  of  nearly  every  blanket.  Every 
belt  was  full  of  cartridges,  and  a  Winchester  rifle  was 
slung  to  every  saddle.  Sowawick,  the  principal  chief, 
had  two  large  revolvers  buckled  on  outside  of  his 
blanket.  They  left  all  their  ponies  standing  in  a  bunch, 
and  quite  a  large  number  of  bucks  remained  with  them 
and  did  not  come  in  to  the  council  house  at  all — a  most 
unusual  circumstance. 

I  had  cautioned  the  employes  to  stay    within    easy 


EXPERIENCES  OF  A  SPECIAL   INDIAN   AGENT.       133 

reach  of  their  arms,  and  to  appear  to  be  at  their  custo 
mary  duties,  as  if  nothing  unusual  was  taking  place. 

James  Davis  happened  to  be  at  the  Agency  with  his 
brother,  the  blacksmith,  and  he  willingly  agreed  to  go 
into  the  council  with  me  as  interpreter,  as  I  was  afraid 
to  trust  entirely  to  Charlie  Mack,  the  Indian  interpreter. 

Instructions  were  given  for  no  other  white  person  to 
come  about  the  council.  I  wanted  the  Indians  to  see 
that  Davis  and  I  were  not  afraid  to  go  in  alone. 

Davis  had  one  good  pistol,  and  I  gave  him  two  more, 
and  filled  his  pockets  full  of  cartridges.  I  also  put  two 
revolvers  in  my  own  pockets  and  buckled  two  around  me. 

I  had  caused  about  twenty  chairs  to  be  taken  into  the 
council  house  and  placed  in  rows  facing  two  that  I  had 
set  against  the  rear  wall  for  Davis  and  myself.  When 
the  Indians  came  in  I  made  Big  Tom  and  Sowawick  sit 
down  side  by  side  directly  in  front  of  me.  In  fact  I 
assumed  the  duties  of  an  usher,  picked  out  an  Indian 
for  each  chair,  and  seated  the  entire  crowd  just  as  I 
wanted  them  to  sit. 

I  did  this  partly  for  our  advantage  in  case  of  an  out 
break,  but  mainly  to  avert  such  an  occurrence  by  mysti 
fying  and  intimidating  the  Indians,  and  giving  them  to 
understand  that  I  intended  that  mine  should  be  the 
guiding  hand.  I  saw  in  a  minute  that  it  was  good 
tactics,  and  had  produced  exactly  the  look  of  bewilder 
ment  and  hesitancy  that  I  had  calculated  on. 


134        SERVICE  ON  THE  INDIAN  RESERVATIONS. 

Believing  that  it  would  also  have  a  subduing  effect 
on  the  Indians  to  know  how  Davis  and  I  were  armed,  I 
picked  a  chance  and  slipped  the  two  pistols  out  of  my 
pockets  and  tucked  them  under  my  belt  in  front  of  those 
in  the  scabbards,  where  they  could  be  seen,  and  yet  not 
appear  to  be  purposely  displayed. 

When  all  got  quiet  I  rapped  the  council  to  order  and 
spoke  as  follows : 

"I  speak  to  the  Uintahs  and  White  Rivers.  I  sent 
word  to  you  that  I  had  some  important  news  to  tell  you. 
It  will  save  you  a  great  deal  of  trouble  if  you  listen  to 
it.  Some  bad  white  men  who  live  here  close  around 
your  Reservation  want  to  take  it  from  you.  They  are 
trying  to  get  you  into  a  fight  with  Washington  so  that 
they  can  then  come  in  and  take  your  country.  That  is 
what  I  want  to  tell  you  about." 

"I  am  glad  to  see  that  Big  Tom  and  the  rest  of  the 
Uintah  chiefs  have  come  in  unarmed  and  friendly,  and 
appear  to  want  to  listen  like  sensible  men.  That  is  the 
way  for  men  to  do  who  want  to  do  right." 

"But  I  notice  that  all  the  White  Rivers  have  guns 
and  pistols,  and  look  mad  and  ugly.  Sowawick  himself 
has  two  pistols  buckled  around  him,  and  his  face  is  as 
black  as  midnight." 

"Washington  has  sent  me  among  a  great  many  dif 
ferent  tribes,  but  I  never  thought  it  necessary  to  carry 


EXPERIENCES  OF  A  SPECIAL   INDIAN   AGENT.       135 

weapons  until  I  saw  the  White  Rivers  ride  up  here  this 
morning  just  like  a  war  party.  Then  I  told  all  the  white 
people  to  stay  close  by  their  guns  outside;  and  when  I 
saw  that  Sowawick  had  left  fifty  of  his  young  men  to 
guard  his  ponies,  and  was  coming  in  here  with  those 
two  pistols  buckled  around  him — when  I  saw  all  that  I 
say — I  armed  myself  with  these  four  pistols,  two  for  my 
right  hand  and  two  for  my  left  hand." 

"If  you  will  listen  to  me  your  country  will  not  be 
taken  from  you.  Washington  does  not  want  to  take  it. 
But  these  bad  white  men  are  trying  to  get  it.  If  you 
want  me  to  tell  you  all  about  it  I  will  do  it.  You  ought 
to  know  it.  But  the  White  Rivers  look  as  if  they  had 
come  to  fight,  and  not  to  listen.  If  their  ears  are  closed 
against  the  truth  I  will  not  talk.  If  they  have  come  to 
fight,  I  want  them  to  begin  now  while  we  are  all  in  here 
together,  because  Davis  and  I  are  ready,  and  so  are  the 
white  people  outside." 

All  this  was  pure  bluff,  of  course ;  especially  the  ref 
erence  to  two  pistols  for  each  hand,  for  I  had  never  fired 
a  pistol  with  my  left  hand  in  my  life,  and  was  a  poor 
shot  with  my  right  hand. 

My  purpose  was  to  show  the  Uintahs  that  the  White 
Rivers  were  blind  and  reckless ;  that  their  decision  to 
fight  was  without  excuse  and  against  the  best  interests 
of  all  the  tribe;  that  it  might  result  in  losing  their  coun- 


136         SERVICE  ON  THE  INDIAN  RESERVATIONS. 

try  instead  of  saving  it;  that  their  pretended  white 
friends  were  instigating  them  to  their  own  destruction ; 
to  force  the  White  Rivers  themselves  to  acknowledge  all 
this  and  offer  some  atonement  for  it.  It  was  my  aim  to 
allude  to  these  things  in  such  way  as  to  make  the  desire 
of  both  bands  to  hear  more  irresistible,  because  I  was 
satisfied  that  the  White  Rivers  had  come  to  denounce 
and  threaten  as  well  as  to  listen,  and  to  listen  only  with 
incredulous  ears. 

And  I  am  satisfied  that  it  was  our  salvation.  It  was 
evident  that  Sowawick  had  anticipated  nothing  of  the 
kind,  and  was  disconcerted.  He  arose  and  started  to 
explain  and  make  excuses.  But  it  was  my  intention  to 
suffer  no  one  to  speak  until  I  had  prepared  the  ground 
and  sown  all  the  seed  that  I  wanted  to  sow.  I  told  him 
to  wait;  to  listen  to  me,  and  when  I  got  through  I 
would  listen  to  him.  Then  I  continued  as  follows: 

"I  speak  to  Big  Tom,  to  Sowawick  and  to  all  their 
people.  Listen  to  what  I  say.  You  have  a  good  coun 
try — the  loveliest  valley  in  Utah.  Beautiful  running 
waters — cold  and  good  in  the  hot  summer  time  from  the 
melting  snows  in  the  mountains ;  rich  grass  in  the  val 
leys  for  your  ponies;  deer  and  elk  in  the  mountains  for 
meat  and  buckskin  ;  mountains  all  around  to  shelter  you 
from  cold  winds  in  the  winter." 

"Washington  knows  that  you  love  this  country,  and 


EXPERIENCES  OF  A  SPECIAL   INDIAN   AGENT.       137 

he  wants  you  to  keep  it.  He  has  no  thought  of  taking 
it  away  from  you.  But  he  requires  that  you  shall  do 
right.  You  must  stay  on  your  Reservation  and  do  no 
wrong  to  one  another  or  any  white  person  on  the  out 
side." 

"Washington  has  heard  of  a  great  deal  of  bad  talk, 
and  of  some  bad  things  that  have  been  done.  You 
know  what  they  are.  It  is  unnecessary  for  me  to  name 
them.  Maybe  bad  Indians;  maybe  bad  white  man; 
maybe  both  do  wrong.  Washington  does  not  like  that. 
He  is  sending  his  soldiers  to  stop  it.  They  are  coming 
now  from  Evanston.  Will  be  here  in  four  or  five  sleeps. 
They  will  sit  down  somewhere  on  the  Reservation  and 
live  here  all  the  time.  If  any  white  man  intrudes  upon 
the  Reservation  I  will  tell  them  and  they  will  throw  him 
out.  If  Sowawick  or  any  other  Indian  hurts  anybody  I 
will  tell  them  about  that  and  they  will  catch  him  and 
put  him  in  the  guardhouse.  To  make  it  plain  they  are 
coming  to  catch  both  whites  and  Indians  when  they  do 
wrong,  but  they  will  make  no  trouble  for  those  who  do 
right." 

"White  men  have  told  you  that  Washington  is  send 
ing  these  soldiers  to  take  your  country  away  from  you 
and  give  it  to  the  white  man.  That  is  not  the  truth. 
The  men  who  tell  you  that  want  your  country  themselves. 
They  see  but  one  way  to  get  it,  and  that  is  to  blind 


138         SERVICE  ON  THE  INDIAN  RESERVATIONS. 

your  eyes  with  talk,  and  get  you  to  sack  the  Agencies 
or  fight  the  soldiers,  or  do  some  other  great  wrong,  that 
would  cause  Washington  to  take  your  country  away 
from  you  and  drive  you  off  somewhere  else  as  punish 
ment.  Then  these  men  being  right  here  on  the  line 
they  could  come  in  and  take  this  beautiful  valley  of 
yours  before  the  white  men  who  live  a  long  way  off 
could  get  here.  You  think  these  men  are  your  friends. 
1  have  no  doubt  they  are  in  a  great  many  things.  But 
they  covet  your  Reservation.  You  can  see  as  well  as  I 
that  all  other  valleys  in  Utah  are  full  of  white  people. 
They  need  more  land  that  they  can  cultivate.  Your 
large  and  beautiful  valley  would  furnish  homes  for  thous 
ands  of  them.  They  want  it  badly,  and  if  you  rush 
blindly  into  war  with  Washington  they  may  get  it.  I 
do  not  know." 

"But  the  chiefs  ought  to  think  about  all  these  things 
before  they  fight.  They  will  lose  everything  and  gain 
nothing.  If  you  go  on  the  warpath  Washington  will 
send  enough  soldiers  here  to  drive  you  out  of  this  val 
ley.  Then  where  will  the  Utes  go?  What  will  become 
of  their  squaws  and  pappooses?  Look  to  the  north,  to 
the  south,  to  the  east,  to  the  west,  look  everywhere, 
and  you  see  white  men." 

"Suppose  you  go  to  the  mountains.  The  soldiers 
will  swarm  after  you  and  catch  you  there.  Geronimo 


EXPERIENCES  OF  A  SPECIAL   INDIAN    AGENT.       139 

— Apache  chief — you  know  him.  Where  is  Geronimo 
now?  He  went  on  the  warpath.  Too  many  soldiers 
came.  Geronimo  fled  to  the  mountains.  The  soldiers 
followed.  Everywhere  Geronimo  went  the  soldiers  were 
before  him — behind  him — all  around  him — heap  of  sol 
diers.  The  other  day  they  caught  him.  They  have 
carried  him  to  St.  Augustine,  Florida,  away  down  by 
the  big  water,  Atlantic  Ocean.  Apaches  no  more  see 
him,  Geronimo.  Maybe  so  mosquitoes  eat  him  up, 
maybe  so  alligators  catch  him,  maybe  so  Washington 
drop  a  pile  driver  on  him.  Don't  know." 

"The  time  may  have  been  in  the  past  when  you  could 
hold  your  own  on  the  warpath,  but  it  now  leads  to 
swift  and  sure  destruction.  To  take  it  to-day  is  to  seal 
the  doom  of  all  your  squaws  and  pappooses.  Follow 
the  Washington  road  and  you  will  hold  your  country 
and  enjoy  peace  and  happiness." 

"Now  go  back  to  your  homes,  bring  your  squaws 
and  pappooses  back  from  the  mountains,  carry  your 
guns  and  pistols  only  when  you  go  to  kill  game,  and 
stop  being  foolish.  If  any  of  those  white  men  come  on 
the  Reservation  again,  bring  them  to  me  and  I  will  put 
them  in  the  guardhouse.  Go  about  your  own  business 
like  sensible  men,  do  no  harm  to  anybody,  and  if  any 
thing  goes  wrong  with  you,  or  you  hear  any  bad  talk, 
come  and  tell  me  about  it.  When  I  need  help  to  keep 
down  trouble,  come  and  help  me.  This  is  my  talk," 


140         SERVICE  ON  THE  INDIAN  RESERVATIONS. 

It  was  worth  an  admission  fee  to  see  the  expressions 
on  their  faces  and  hear  their  grunts  when  the  interpreter 
explained  what  I  said  about  the  mosquitoes,  alligators 
and  pile  driver,  in  connection  with  Geronimo's  fate. 
And  altogether  the  effect  of  the  speech  was  extraordinary 
—  quite  beyond  my  expectations. 

Big  Tom  and  Henry  Jim — the  latter  an  Uncompahgre 
chief  who  happened  to  be  present — were  in  raptures  and 
eager  to  speak;  but  to  carry  out  my  plan  to  the  end,  I 
told  them  to  let  Sowawick  speak  first. 

Sowawick  was  completely  upset.  He  arose  with  pal 
pable  embarrassment.  It  was  evident  that  he  did  not 
know  how  to  begin,  or  what  to  say.  He  spoke  slowly, 
and  at  first  reflected  long  between  sentences.  He  said  : 

"It  is  true  that  my  people  have  been  very  much  ex 
cited  and  alarmed,  but  you  ought  not  to  judge  us 
harshly.  In  your  mind  put  yourself  in  our  places. 
Men  whom  we  supposed  were  our  friends  told  us  that 
the  soldiers  were  coming  to  kill  our  chiefs,  and  drive 
our  people  away  off  somewhere  and  give  our  country  to 
the  white  man,  and  we  believed  it.  We  could  not  see 
what  else  the  soldiers  were  coming  for.  Now  you  tell 
us  differently  and  we  are  glad  to  hear  it.  Your  talk  is 
good,  and  we  feel  secure.  We  would  have  told  you 
about  all  this  bad  talk,  but  those  white  men  told  us  not 
to  do  that.  They  said  that  you  and  the  soldiers  were 


EXPERIENCES  OF  A  SPECIAL    INDIAN    AGENT.       141 

good  friends  and  would  act  together.  We  want  you  to 
be  our  friend,  and  we  will  tell  you  all  the  bad  talk  we 
hear  and  help  you  keep  down  trouble.  We  will  not 
talk  about  fight  anymore  without  first  telling  you  what 
is  the  matter.  If  the  soldiers  want  to  sit  down  on  the 
Reservation,  all  right — just  so  they  do  not  try  to  hurt 
us  without  cause  or  take  our  country  away  from  us." 

"The  Uncompahgres  are  scared  and  getting  ready  to 
fight,  just  as  we  were  doing.  You  go  quick  and  tell 
Saponero  what  you  have  told  us.  I  will  send  some  of 
my  young  men  on  fast  horses  to  tell  him  you  are  coming, 
His  son — young  chief — Henry  Jim,  has  heard  your  talk 
and  says  it  is  good.  He  will  ride  fast  and  tell  Saponero. 
Saponero's  heart  will  feel  good." 

Big  Tom  said  : 

"Your  talk  is  good — good  ta\\t.  Big  Tom's  heart  is 
glad.  All  the  Uintah  chiefs  feel  glad.  Big  Tom  will 
tell  Tabbe.  Tabbe  will  be  heap  glad.  Tabbe  is  good 
man.  Never  go  crazy,  Tabbe.  Some  Uintah  young 
men  act  foolish  and  talk  fight.  Big  Tom  will  tell  them 
to  hold  on,  stop,  be  still,  do  as  Agent  tells  you.  If 
anybody  hurts  Indian,  come  and  tell  Agent.  You  be  our 
friend.  We  will  help  you  keep  down  trouble.  We  will 
tell  you  all  the  bad  talk  we  hear.  We  will  tell  our 
White  River  friends  to  keep  still — don't  act  crazy — you 
make  it  a  heap  of  trouble  for  all  of  us — make  Washing- 


142         SERVICE  ON  THE  INDIAN  RESERVATIONS, 

ton  take  our  country  away  from  us.  That  is  bad. 
White  Rivers  must  not  do  that.  Uintahs  will  tell  you 
about  that,  and  help  you  stop  it." 

Henry  Jim  shook  my  hand  with  great  earnestness, 
and  said : 

"Henry  Jim  has  heard  your  talk.  He  is  glad.  It  is 
good  talk.  Me  go  now  quick  to  tell  Saponero.  Sapo- 
nero  heap  scared.  All  Uncompahgre  young  men  heap 
scared.  All  crazy.  Want  to  fight.  Me  see  'em  last 
night.  Maybe  so  fight  to-day — maybe  so  to-morrow. 
Me  go  quick  and  tell  Saponero  to-day  you  come.  To 
morrow,  sun  little  bit  high,  you  hold  it  a  council  at 
Ouray.  Me  tell  Saponero  hold  on — wait — hear  Agent 
talk — good  talk.  All  right.  Me  go  now.  My  pony 
good  pony — run  fast.  To-morrow,  daylight,  me  see  you 
at  Ouray.  Good  bye." 

He  strode  rapidly  out  of  the  house,  followed  by  five 
or  six  young  Uncompahgre  bucks.  From  a  window  I 
saw  them  mount  and  start  for  Ouray  in  a  lope — a  gait 
which  I  had  no  idea  would  be  broken  a  single  time  on 
the  journey — up  hill  or  down — except  in  fording  the 
streams. 

It  was  then  12  o'clock  and  I  announced  that  I  would 
go  to  Ouray  in  the  afternoon  to  hold  a  council  with  the 
Uncompahgres.  The  chiefs  all  said  they  were  glad  of 
that,  and  hoped  Henry  Jim  would  get  there  before  any- 


EXPERIENCES  OF  A  SPECIAL   INDIAN    AGENT.       143 

thing  bad  had  taken  place.  Sowawick  shook  hands 
with  me,  and  pledged  me  his  word  that  no  harm  should 
be  done  by  the  Indians  in  my  absence.  The  council 
adjourned  in  perfect  good  humor,  and  every  white  per 
son  at  the  Agency  experienced  a  feeling  of  happy 
deliverance,  for  the  time  being  at  least,  from  imminent 
peril. 


144         SERVICE  ON  THE  INDIAN  RESERVATIONS. 


CHAPTER   XVII. 

THE  TRIP  TO  OURAY  —  INTENSE  EXCITEMENT  —  THE 
INDIANS  INTENDED  TO  ATTACK  AT  DAYLIGHT  — 
THE  TROOPS  HEARD  FROM  —  OBJECTIONS  TO  THE 
"BUFFALO  SOLDIERS" — THE  TROOPS  ARRIVE. 

T  CARRIED  Mr.  Davis  with  me  to  Ouray.  We  made 
*•  the  trip  in  a  buggy,  well  armed,  and  with  a  team  of 
saddle  horses. 

Indian  lookouts  were  posted  on  all  the  high  points 
along  the  road,  and  many  of  them  intercepted  us  to 
ascertain  who  we  were,  and  where  we  were  going. 

It  was  an  hour  after  dark  when  we  arrived  at  Ouray. 
Indian  runners  had  apprised  the  employes  of  our  com 
ing,  and  they  were  glad  to  see  us.  They  had  been 
momentarily  expecting  an  attack  all  day.  They  had 
all  their  horses  saddled  and  bridled,  and  were  standing 
watch  by  turns  to  guard  against  surprise. 

Saponero  and  Colorow  had  sent  to  the  trader's  store 
at  daylight  that  morning  and  bought  every  box  of 
matches,  every  foot  of  rope,  every  bridle,  saddle,  cinch 
and  saddle  blanket,  every  piece  of  dressed  buckskin, 


EXPERIENCES  OF  A  SPECIAL   INDIAN    AGENT.       145 

every  box  of  black  paint — the  war  color — and  unusually 
large  quantities  of  various  other  articles  needful  on  the 
warpath. 

The  Indians  knew  that  the  trader  kept  unfixed  am 
munition — powder,  lead  and  caps.  They  called  for  all 
he  had.  Believing  that  they  would  take  it  away  from 
him  if  he  did  not  sell  it,  he  sold  them  some,  but  suc 
ceeded  in  hiding  most  of  it. 

Afterwards  one  of  them  found  a  i5~cent  bar  of  lead 
and  kept  increasing  his  offer  for  it  until  it  amounted  to 
$4.50,  which  happened  to  be  all  the  money  he  had 
left,  and  which,  as  I  recollect,  the  trader  accepted, 
deeming  it  unsafe  to  refuse. 

When  I  arose  at  daylight  next  morning,  my  stalwart 
friend,  Henry  Jim,  was  sitting  at  my  room  door,  so 
worn  and  haggard  from  fatigue  and  loss  of  sleep  that  I 
hardly  recognized  him. 

Henry  Jim  said  he  arrived  at  Saponero's  camp 
before  night,  and  found  the  squaws,  old  men  and  pap- 
pooses  all  gone,  and  the  warriors  getting  ready  to 
attack  the  Agency  at  daylight  next  morning — that  very 
hour.  They  immediately  assembled  in  council  to  hear 
the  news  from  Uintah,  and  continued  to  discuss  the  sit 
uation  until  within  an  hour  of  daybreak,  when  they  sent 
him  on  to  tell  me  that  they  wanted  to  hear  me  talk, 
and  would  come  in  early. 


146         SERVICE  ON  THE  INDIAN  RESERVATIONS. 

He  also  said  that  the  Uncompahgres  were  highly 
pleased  with  his  report  of  the  Uintah  council,  and  as 
sured  me  that  if  I  would  make  the  same  explanations 
to  them  that  I  had  made  to  the  Uintahs  and  White 
Rivers,  it  would  allay  their  fears  concerning  the  soldiers, 
and  remove  much  of  their  dissatisfaction  regarding  other 
matters. 

And  so  it  proved.  The  council  was  long  and  tedi 
ous,  but  entirely  harmonious,  and  the  result  quite  as 
satisfactory  as  it  was  at  Uintah.  We  adjourned  with 
the  public  promise  from  Saponero — given  with  the 
sanction  of  the  entire  council — that  if  my  representa 
tions  proved  true,  we  should  have  the  support  instead 
of  the  hostility  of  the  Uncompahgres,  and  that  in  any 
event  if  anything  went  wrong  he  would  come  and  tell 
me  or  McKewen  about  it. 

At  12  o'clock  I  started  on  the  return  trip  to  Uin 
tah.  About  half  way  we  met  five  Indians  coming  from 
Uintah  as  fast  as  their  ponies  could  carry  them.  As 
they  drew  near  and  signalled  to  us  to  stop,  we  saw  that 
they  had  been  riding  hard  and  were  greatly  excited. 
It  gave  me  a  very  painful  shock.  I  was  afraid  some 
new  trouble  had  occurred  at  Uintah. 

The  leader  was  an  old  head  man  named  Sour,  whom 
Davis  and  I  both  knew  to  be  one  of  the  best  disposed 
Indians  on  the  Reservation.  But  he  was  now  terribly 


EXPERIENCES  OF  A  SPECIAL   INDIAN    AGENT.       147 

excited.  He  did  not  wait  to  get  nearer  than  a  hun 
dred  yards  to  begin  shouting: 

"Buffalo  soldiers !  Buffalo  soldiers  !  Coming.  May 
be  so  to-morrow.  Indians  saw  them  at  Burnt  Fort 
yesterday,  coming  this  way.  Don't  let  them  come! 
We  can't  stand  it!  It's  bad — very  bad!" 

When  he  got  up  to  us  he  continued  to  talk  rapidly, 
both  orally  and  by  signs.  He  gave  Davis  no  time  to 
interpret,  and  perhaps  said  as  much  in  five  minutes 
with  his  mouth  and  hands  together  as  could  have  been 
interpreted  literally  in  half  an  hour.  As  soon  as  Davis 
could  break  in  he  gave  me  the  substance  of  it  as  fol 
lows : 

"You  did  not  tell  us  that  'buffalo  soldiers'  were  com 
ing,  and  we  did  not  agree  for  them  to  come.  We  did 
not  think  about  them  at  all.  Our  agreement  applies 
only  to  white  soldiers.  That  is  all  right.  We  told  you 
they  might  come,  and  they  may.  But  all  the  Indians 
want  you  to  come  back  quick  and  meet  the  'buffalo 
soldiers'  at  the  line  and  send  them  back.  We  cannot 
stand  for  them  to  come  on  our  Reservation.  It  is  too 
bad!" 

I  told  Davis  to  ask  him  why  the  Indians  objected 
to  the  colored  troops,  or  "buffalo  soldiers,"  as  he  called 
them.  By  this  time  he  was  too  impatient  and  excited 
to  wait  on  the  interpreter.  Leaping  from  his  pony  and 


148         SERVICE  ON  THE  INDIAN  RESERVATIONS. 

rushing  up  to  me  as  I  sat  in  the  buggy,  he  rubbed  his 
hand  briskly  over  my  black  coat  sleeve  and  then  over 
his  face  and  exclaimed  with  great  vehemence  in  broken 
English : 

"All  over  black!  All  over  black,  buffalo  soldiers! 
Injun  heap  no  like  him//" 

Then  rubbing  his  head  all  over  with  a  jerk  of  his 
hand,  he  almost  screamed: 

"  Woolly  head!  Woolly  head!  All  same  as  buffalo! 
What  you  call  him,  black  white  man?  NIGGER!  ! 
NIGGER!  !  !" 

It  took  me  an  hour  to  get  him  calmed  down  and 
reconciled.  I  had  not  thought  of  colored  troops  my 
self,  and  was  not  aware  that  the  Indians  disliked  them 
any  more  than  they  did  white  soldiers. 

Finally,  upon  the  assurance  that  all  the  soldier  chiefs 
were  white  men,  and  the  pledge  of  my  word  for  the 
good  conduct  of  the  "buffaloes,"  Sour  agreed  that  they 
might  come,  and  gave  me  his  word  that  he  would  hurry 
back  and  satisfy  all  the  Indians. 

At  the  Agency  I  found  that  Sour's  excitement  had 
been  shared  in  by  the  entire  tribe.  I  was  also  informed 
that  the  Utes  had  a  strange  and  irreconcilable  antipathy 
to  negroes.  Up  to  that  time  they  had  never  suffered 
one  to  live  on  their  Reservation.  Several  had  dropped 
in  among  them  from  time  to  time  in  the  past,  but  only 
to  soon  disappear  and  never  be  heard  of  again. 


EXPERIENCES  OF  A  SPECIAL   INDIAN   AGENT.       149 

That  afternoon  General  Crook  arrived  on  the  Reser 
vation  with  four  companies  of  infantry,  and  established 
the  Post  of  Fort  DuChesne. 

The  Indians  watched  this  small  force  from  all  the 
high  points,  and  showed  considerable  nervousness,  but 
when  they  saw  them  go  into  camp,  or  "sit  down,"  as 
they  expressed  it,  at  the  place  I  had  suggested,  on  the 
road  and  near  halfway  between  the  two  Agencies,  they 
told  me  again  that  it  was  all  right — that  they  might 
"sit"  there  as  long  as  they  pleased,  but  they  did  not 
want  them  to  come  any  nearer. 

Early  next  morning  the  "buffalo  soldiers" — four 
troops  of  colored  cavalry — arrived.  During  the  day  a 
great  many  Indians  came  to  talk  with  me  about  them, 
and  many  were  the  intimations  in  substance  that  if  they 
did  not  stay  pretty  close  to  their  wickiups  they  would 
certainly  "hear  something  drop." 


150         SERVICE  ON  THE  INDIAN  RESERVATIONS. 


CHAPTER    XVIII. 

A  FRESH  ALARM  AT  UINTAH  —  A  VISIT  TO  THE  "SOL 
DIER  CAMP" — A  TERRIBLE  NIGHT  RIDE  —  THE  END 
OF  OUR  TROUBLES. 

A  BOUT  9  o'clock  the  second  night  after  the  arrival 
•^••V  of  the  "buffaloes,"  an  unusual  commotion  was 
heard  over  in  Sowawick's  village  and  among  the  scat 
tering  camps  near  the  Agency. 

Loud  shouting  could  be  plainly  heard,  and  an  em 
ploye  who  understood  the  language  said  runners  were 
riding  at  full  speed  through  the  camps  giving  the  alarm 
that  soldiers  were  coming,  and  summoning  the  Indians 
to  a  council  at  Sowawick's  camp  immediately. 

I  was  satisfied  that  a  new  excitement  had  broken 
out,  but  as  our  preparations  for  defense  were  as  com 
plete  as  we  could  make  them,  there  was  nothing  we 
could  do  but  await  developments. 

We  had  not  long  to  wait.  In  less  than  half  an 
hour  I  heard  a  great  clatter  of  unshod  hoofs  approach 
ing  at  full  speed.  They  dashed  up  to  my  yard  gate 


EXPERIENCES  OF  A  SPECIAL   INDIAN   AGENT.       151 

and  stopped.  Moccasined  feet  came  running  on  the 
walk  to  the  porch.  There  was  a  rush  against  my  room 
door,  and  half  a  dozen  Indians  commenced  pounding 
on  it  and  shouting: 

"Agent,  soldiers!  Agent,  soldiers  !  Coming  now  ! 
Maybe  so  buffalo  soldiers!" 

Opening  the  door,  I  asked  them  what  was  the 
matter.  There  were  six  or  seven  of  them,  all  White 
Rivers,  I  thought,  though  Charlie  Mack,  the  interpreter, 
was  the  only  one  whom  I  knew  by  name.  He  was  a 
full-blood  White  River,  and  lived  in  Sowawick's  village. 
They  were  so  excited  that  they  could  hardly  talk. 
When  Charlie  Mack  became  steady  enough  to  talk  with 
any  coherency  at  all,  it  was  as  follows: 

"Soldiers!  Pony  soldiers!  Maybe  so  buffalo  sol 
diers.  Comin'  now.  Injuns  see  'em  at  Antero's  little 
bit  ago.  Injuns  run  fast  and  tell  Sowawick.  Maybe 
so  comin'  to  catch  Injuns  to-night.  Dunno,  Injuns 
think  so.  All  de  Injuns  heap  scared.  Squaws  and 
pappooses  all  runnin'  to  mountains  now.  All  de  In 
juns  fight  to-night — right  now — purty  quick.  Sowawick 
send  us  to  ask  you  what  you  say,  quick?" 

This  was  a  stunner.  Antero's  camp  was  five  miles 
down  the  road  towards  Camp  DuChesne,  and  I  could 
not  understand  myself  why  soldiers  should  be  riding 
about  on  the  Reservation,  and  especially  coming  to- 


152         SERVICE  ON  THE  INDIAN  RESERVATIONS. 

wards  the  Agency  in  the  nighttime,  without  notice  to 
me.  I  could  not  believe  it  true,  and  questioned  Charlie 
Mack  again.  He  said: 

"Yes — since  dark — little  bit  ago.  Injuns  see  'em — 
big  band — comin'  this  way." 

I  was  still  incredulous,  though  Indians  seldom  make 
mistakes  in  matters  of  that  kind.  And  true  or  false, 
it  was  evident  that  something  had  to  be  done  quick. 
I  could  think  of  but  one  thing,  and  acted  on  it  at  once. 
Speaking  with  decisiveness  and  energy,  I  said : 

"Go  back  and  tell  Sowawick  to  send  some  of  his 
chiefs  to  go  with  me  to  see  where  the  soldiers  are  going, 
and  what  they  are  after.  I  know  they  are  not  coming 
to  catch  the  Indians.  Maybe  they  are  coming  to  see 
me.  Maybe  they  are  looking  for  lost  horses.  I  don't 
know.  We  will  go  and  find  out.  Some  of  you  go  and 
tell  Big  Tom  to  come  too.  Tell  Sowawick  to  keep 
the  Indians  quiet  until  we  get  back.  Go  now,  quick." 

They  ran  out  to  their  ponies,  sprang  to  their  backs 
and  sped  away  as  if  they  expected  the  "buffalo  sol 
diers"  to  catch  the  hindmost. 

I  ordered  out  the  two  best  horses  at  the  Agency, 
and  sent  for  Frank  Boan,  a  brave  young  fellow  origin 
ally  from  Illinois  or  Missouri,  I  do  not  recollect  which. 
I  told  him  that  the  Indians  would  expect  me  to  ride  at 
the  front,  but  that  he  must  ride  at  the  rear,  and  in  no 


EXPERIENCES  OF  A  SPECIAL   INDIAN   AGENT.       153 

case  permit  any  Indian  to  get  behind  him;  that  we 
would  take  four  pistols  apiece,  and  if  fired  on  we  would 
try  to  get  together  and  make  our  way  back  to  the 
Agency  or  to  the  Post. 

By  the  time  we  were  ready  Charlie  Mack  had  re 
turned  with  Big  Tom,  Snake  John,  Bob  Ridley  and 
seven  other  chiefs.  They  brought  word  from  Sowawick 
that  no  harm  should  be  done  to  the  Agency  during  our 
absence.  Nevertheless,  I  charged  all  the  employes  to 
assemble  at  a  designated  house  and  stay  together  until 
we  got  back. 

It  was  about  10  o'clock  when  we  started.  I  put 
Big  Tom  back  with  Boan,  and  made  Charlie  Mack,  the 
interpreter,  ride  with  me. 

When  we  got  to  Antero's  camp,  we  found  it  de 
serted.  The  condition  of  the  bedding  and  other  things 
showed  that  it  had  been  abandoned  in  great  haste. 
The  Indians  concluded  that  the  entire  band  had  been 
captured,  and  became  greatly  excited.  They  proposed 
to  turn  back,  but  I  told  them  that  we  would  go  on  to 
the  Post  and  make  inquiry  there.  That  steadied  them 
somewhat,  and  we  fell  into  the  road  again. 

All  along  the  route,  and  especially  between  the 
Agency  and  Antero's,  we  were  frequently  intercepted 
by  Indians,  most  of  whom  seemed  to  be  riding  off  a 
hundred  yards  or  more  from  the  road.  They  would 


154         SERVICE  ON  -THE  INDIAN  RESERVATIONS. 

first  hail  and  get  an  answer  in  Indian,  and  then  gallop 
in  to  ascertain  who  we  were  and  where  we  were  going. 
Several  arose  from  the  sagebrush  right  at  the  side  of 
the  road,  where  they  were  squatted  as  lookouts  for  the 
soldiers.  They  all  looked  wild  and  excited.  They 
had  heard  of  the  troops  and  were  hunting  for  them 
themselves,  though  not  one  of  them  had  seen  a  soldier, 
or  knew  anything  about  Antero's  band. 

I  kept  the  Indians  talking  to  each  other  up  and 
down  the  line  in  their  own  language,  to  avoid  being 
mistaken  for  cavalry  and  fired  on. 

After  passing  Antero's  camp  the  Indians  rode  ex- 
asperatingly  slow,  and  as  we  neared  the  Post  they  hung 
back  so  much  that  I  feared  they  would  break  away  and 
not  go  up  at  all.  It  was  evident  that  they  were  uneasy 
and  suspicious  of  entrapment. 

The  moon  was  just  fairly  above  the  mesa  to  the 
east  as  we  came  in  sight  of  the  white  tents  in  the  valley. 
There  was  perfect  silence  in  the  camp,  but  we  could  see 
the  sentinels  walking  their  beats,  apparently  wide  awake 
and  vigilant.  A  dim  light  was  burning  in  the  guard 
tent  on  the  corner  that  we  were  approaching,  and  a  few 
men  sitting  near  it. 

The  Indians  were  in  single  file,  and  had  dropped 
back  perhaps  ten  steps  apart,  making  quite  a  long  line. 
The  low  moon  cast  our  shadows  out  over  the  plain, 


EXPERIENCES  OF  A  SPECIAL   INDIAN   AGENT.      155 

making  us,  as  the  sentinels  said,  look  like  a  regiment 
of  phantoms. 

The  sand  being  deep,  our  approach  was  noiseless, 
and  we  were  within  sixty  yards  before  the  guards  dis 
covered  us.  Suddenly  the  men  at  the  tent  sprang  to 
their  feet  and  we  heard  the  click-dick  of  half  a  dozen 
rifles,  and  saw  their  bright  barrels  gleaming  straight  at 
us.  To  the  quick,  energetic  command  :  "Halt!  Who 
goes  there?"  I  made  prompt  answer,  and  told  Charlie 
Mack  to  interpret  everything  to  the  Indians.  The  Ser 
geant  asked  me  to  wait  where  we  were  until  he  could 
wake  the  commanding  officer.  While  he  was  gone  we 
rode  a  few  steps  to  one  side  and  hitched  our  horses  to 
the  cottonwood  trees  on  the  bank  of  the  river.  In  a 
few  minutes  the  Sergeant  returned  with  word  from  the 
commanding  officer  to  come  to  his  tent,  which  was  sit 
uated  in  the  center  of  the  camp. 

At  the  guard  tent  a  file  of  soldiers  with  guns  closed 
up  on  each  side  of  us,  with  the  Sergeant  in  front,  to 
escort  us  to  the  commanding  officer's  quarters.  As 
the  soldiers  appeared  on  both  sides  of  us,  I  looked  back 
at  the  Indians,  who  were  following  me  in  single  file, 
with  Boan  still  at  the  rear.  They  were  the  most  solemn 
and  worst  hoodooed-looking  human  beings  I  ever  saw. 
I  doubt  if  any  of  them  had  much  hope  of  ever  getting 
out  of  the  camp  alive.  Fortunately,  the  soldiers  were 


156        SERVICE  ON  THE  INDIAN  RESERVATIONS. 

white.  If  they  had  been  "buffaloes,"  I  am  sure  the 
Indians  would  have  stampeded  in  spite  of  all  we  could 
have  done. 

General  Crook  had  that  day  started  back  to  Omaha, 
leaving  Captain  J.  W.  Duncan,  of  the  Twenty-First 
Infantry,  in  temporary  command.  He  and  Lieutenants 
John  S.  Parke  and  H.  L.  Bailey  and  several  other 
officers  had  jerked  on  their  uniforms  and  swords,  and 
were  tumbling  things  around  to  make  room  for  us.  I 
introduced  all  the  Indians  to  Captain  Duncan  by  name, 
and  explained  the  cause  of  our  visit  at  that  inconvenient 
and  unusual  hour. 

Captain  Duncan  assured  the  Indians  that  a  mistake 
had  been  made;  that  all  of  his  men  had  answered  to 
roll  call  at  sunset,  and  he  was  sure  none  of  them  had 
left  camp  since.  At  my  request  he  also  gave  them 
substantially  the  same  explanations  and  assurances  that 
I  had  given  at  Uintah  and  Ouray,  and  from  being  the 
worst  frightened  they  soon  became  the  best  pleased 
Indians  I  ever  saw.  They  talked  a  few  minutes  among 
themselves,  and  then  Charlie  Mack  told  us  that  they 
had  concluded  that  "maybe  some  Injun  heap  scared 
and  see  some  cowboys  or  some  ghoses,  like  white  man, 
and  think  they  soldiers." 

As  soon  as  we  had  passed  the  guard  tent  going  out, 
the  Indians  said  good-bye  to  me  and  Boan,  mounted 


EXPERIENCES  OF  A  SPECIAL   INDIAN   AGENT.       157 

and  started  back  as  fast  as  their  ponies  could  carry 
them,  not  one  waiting  or  even  looking  back  for  another. 

It  was  8  o'clock  when  Boan  and  I  got  back  to  the 
Agency,  and  we  were  completely  exhausted,  having 
had  a  really  terrible  all-night  ride  of  thirty-five  miles 
without  sleep,  rest  or  refreshment  of  any  kind,  not  even 
a  drink  of  good  water,  to  say  nothing  of  the  strain  of 
excitement  and  apprehension. 

We  found  everything  quiet  at  the  Agency  and  in 
all  the  Indian  camps.  In  fact  Sowawick  had  discov 
ered  the  mistake  long  before  our  return.  A  boy  herder 
of  Antero's  band  saw  a  squad  of  Uncompahgres  coming 
up  from  Ouray,  and  mistaking  them  in  the  dark  for 
soldiers,  he  ran  back  to  camp  and  gave  the  alarm, 
whereat  Antero  and  his  entire  band  struck  out  afoot 
across  country  to  Big  Tom's  camp,  and  arrived  there 
shortly  after  our  departure. 

This  trip  established  me  firmly  in  the  confidence 
of  the  Indians,  and  there  was  never  any  more  excite 
ment  or  trouble  of  any  kind  with  them  during  my  term 
as  Acting  Agent. 


158        SERVICE  ON  THE  INDIAN  RESERVATIONS. 


CHAPTER    XIX. 

THE  SIOUX  VISIT  THE  UTES — A  BIG  DOG  FEAST  — 
THREE  HUNDRED  INDIANS  DANCING  AT  ONE  TIME 
—  AN  EXTRAORDINARY  DISPLAY  OF  PAINT,  FEATH 
ERS  AND  SLEIGH  BELLS. 

A  S  the  excitement  and  war  talk  subsided  the  Indians 
•€•*"  resumed  their  regular  pastimes,  which  consist 
largely  of  horse  racing,  dancing  and  card  playing. 

The  three  bands  own  upwards  of  twelve  thousand 
ponies,  many  of  them  being  really  fine  horses.  Straight 
stretches  of  wagon  road  serve  as  race  tracks,  the  usual 
distance  being  about  five  hundred  yards.  Being  fond 
of  bunch  races,  they  will  enter  as  many  ponies  as  can 
find  room  on  the  track,  or  within  twenty  yards  of  it, 
and  for  any  amount  from  a  pistol  cartridge  to  the  largest 
bunch  of  ponies  on  the  Reservation. 

At  cards  they  are  wonderfully  expert — more  so,  I 
have  heard  competent  white  men  say,  than  "the  heathen 
Chinee."  One  of  their  principal  games  is  what  is 
known  in  that  region  as  Mexican  monte,  and  the  other 


EXPERIENCES  OF  A  SPECIAL    INDIAN   AGENT.       159 

is  poker,  though  cowboys  used  to  tell  me  that  even  the 
latter  is  so  thoroughly  Indianized  as  to  be  a  perfect 
hoodoo  to  a  white  man. 

They  have  no  regular  places  for  playing,  but  wher 
ever  two  or  three  are  gathered  together  there  a  blanket 
and  a  deck  of  cards  may  be  seen  also.  The  blanket  is 
spread  on  the  ground — in  the  shade  if  one  happens  to 
be  convenient,  if  not,  then  in  the  blazing  sun — and  the 
game  begins,  and  generally  to  be  continued  for  many 
hours. 

The  women  also  gamble  with  one  another,  and  some 
times  win  and  lose  large  stakes.  A  very  thrifty  Indian 
living  near  the  Agency  had  two  good  tents,  several 
valuable  robes  and  blankets,  an  abundance  of  wearing 
apparel  and  other  household  goods  suitable  to  their 
mode  of  life.  One  day  during  his  absence  his  squaw 
gambled  off  both  tents  and  every  solitary  thing  they 
contained,  except  herself  and  two  pappooses.  When 
he  returned  at  night  he  found  her  happily  sojourning 
with  a  neighbor,  the  tents  and  all  their  contents  having 
been  promptly  removed  by  the  winner.  The  incident 
resulted  in  no  domestic  disturbance,  however.  The 
husband  expressed  some  contempt  for  his  wife's  skill 
and  judgment,  but  no  disapproval  of  her  habit  of  play 
ing  and  betting. 

Unlike  white  men;  Indians  rarely  ever  have  trouble 


160         SERVICE  ON  THE  INDIAN  RESERVATIONS. 

with  one  another  over  their  games.  They  will  gamble 
at  cards  and  run  horse  races  every  day  for  months  with 
out  even  a  quarrel.  I  do  not  recollect  to  have  ever 
heard  of  but  two  or  three  altercations  resulting  from 
racing  or  card  playing. 

For  a  ball  room  they  sometimes  have  a  tepee,  some 
times  a  bush  wickiup,  and  sometimes  the  open  prairie. 
A  full  orchestra  is  composed  of  a  bass  drum,  at  least 
two  tom-toms,  and  three  or  four  of  a  wooden  instru 
ment  the  name  of  which  I  never  heard.  The  tom-tom 
is  a  small  drum  made  by  stretching  wet  rawhide  over 
the  top  of  a  camp  kettle,  or  other  thing  of  that  shape. 
The  wooden  instrument  is  made  of  hard  wood  in  the 
form  of  a  chair  rocker,  with  notches  on  the  inverted 
edge.  The  musician  rubs  the  notches  with  a  cobble 
stone,  and  the  effect  is  enough  to  make  a  white  man 
dance — with  frenzy.  The  drums  are  placed  on  the 
ground,  and  as  many  Indians  as  can  get  in  reach  pound 
on  them  leisurely,  but  with  unvarying  stroke,  from  be 
ginning  to  end,  while  a  chorus  of  squaws  sing:  "Ki-yi, 
ko-yo,  ki-yi,  ko-yo,  ki-yi,  ko-yo-ko."  A  full  orches 
tra,  however,  is  not  indispensable  to  a  successful  Ute 
"german."  Frequently  only  one  instrument  is  used. 

The  different  tribes  are  also  fond  of  visiting  each 
other  in  large  numbers,  and  Agents  frequently  find  it 
inexpedient  to  refuse  them  permission  to  do  so,  even  if 
they  can  see  no  benefit  to  be  derived  from  it. 


EXPERIENCES  OF  A  SPECIAL   INDIAN    AGENT.       161 

About  three  weeks  after  the  abatement  of  the  trouble 
at  Uintah,  over  four  hundred  Ogalalla  Sioux  came 
down  from  Pine  Ridge  Agency,  in  South  Dakota,  on  a 
visit  to  the  Utes.  They  were  all  men,  and  many  of 
them  well  advanced  in  years.  The  leader  was  a  young 
man  who  gave  his  name  as  Red  Cloud,  and  claimed  to 
be  a  son  of  the  noted  Sioux  chief  of  that  name.  They 
came  direct  to  the  office,  presented  their  papers,  and 
requested  an  issue  of  rations  from  the  Ute  supplies. 

They  had  a  great  many  papers  of  the  nature  of  tes 
timonials,  or  certificates  of  good  character,  but  the 
only  pass  was  one  issued  by  the  Army  officer  then  Act 
ing  Agent  at  Pine  Ridge  for  "the  bearer  and  a  few 
friends"  to  visit  the  Shoshone  Agency,  in  Wyoming. 
Upon  the  inch  contained  in  that  paper  the  entire  party 
had  slipped  off  to  Shoshone,  and  after  stopping  there  a 
few  days,  had  taken  the  ell  of  three  hundred  and  fifty 
miles  to  Uintah.  The  distance  from  Pine  Ridge  to 
Uintah  by  way  of  Shoshone  is  not  less  than  nine  hun 
dred  miles.  The  ponies  were  badly  jaded,  and  the 
Indians  themselves  looked  gaunt  and  hungry. 

Of  course  they  had  to  admit  that  their  visit  was 
unauthorized  in  writing,  but  they  insisted  that  they  had 
verbal  permission,  and  to-  convince  me  that  they  were 
on  a  peaceable  mission  they  led  their  pack  ponies  to 
the  office  door  and  unloaded  over  a  hundred  long-stem 

(6) 


162          SERVICE  ON  THE  INDIAN  RESERVATIONS. 

pipes,  made  of  the  Dakota  red  pipestone,  and  large 
quantities  of  moccasins,  tobacco  pouches  and  other 
trinkets  made  of  buckskin  and  ornamented  with  beads 
and  porcupine  quills,  which  they  said  they  had  brought 
to  "swap"  to  the  Utes  for  ponies  and  buckskin. 

Being  satisfied  that  their  "excursion,"  whether  au 
thorized  or  not,  was  only  for  pleasure  and  the  exchange 
of  gifts  with  the  Utes,  and  seeing  also  that  it  would  be 
impossible  for  them  to  recruit  their  ponies  for  the  return 
trip  under  a  week,  I  consented  for  them  to  remain  that 
long,  but  told  them  that  they  would  have  to  look  to  the 
Utes  themselves  for  beef  and  flour.  With  many  grunts 
expressive  of  deep  satisfaction,  they  hurried  off  to  see  the 
Ute  chiefs,  who  came  in  an  hour  or  two  later  and  asked 
for  an  advance  issue  of  six  beeves  and  other  supplies  for 
their  visitors,  who  they  said  were  "heap  hungry." 

Three  or  four  days  later  the  Ute  chiefs  came  to  the 
office  again  and  gave  me  a  formal  and  very  pressing 
invitation  to  a  big  dog  feast,  which  they  said  they  were 
going  to  give  the  Ogalallas  at  Sowawick's  camp  the 
next  day.  Lieutenant  John  S.  Parke,  of  the  Army, 
happening  to  be  at  the  Agency,  I  introduced  them  to 
him,  and  they  invited  him  also.  Upon  what  we  under 
stood  to  be  an  assurance  that  we  would  not  be  expected 
to  partake  of  the  feast  unless  it  was  entirely  agreeable 
to  us,  we  both  promised  to  go. 


EXPERIENCES  OF  A  SPECIAL   INDIAN   AGENT.      163 

At  9  o'clock  next  morning  Parke  and  I  mounted  our 
horses  and  rode  across  the  creek  to  the  camp.  All  of 
the  Uintahs  and  White  Rivers,  several  hundred  of  the 
Uncompahgres,  and  the  four  hundred  Sioux — at  least 
two  thousand  in  all — had  already  assembled,  and  were 
nearly  ready  to  begin  the  feast.  They  were  all  in  ex 
cellent  humor,  and  seemed  to  be  enjoying  the  occasion 
about  as  white  people  usually  enjoy  a  Fourth  of  July 
barbecue. 

Near  the  center  of  the  camp  a  round  spot  perhaps 
one  hundred  feet  in  diameter  had  been  scraped  off  as 
smooth  as  a  brickyard,  to  serve  the  double  purpose  of 
ball  room  and  banquet  hall.  It  seemed  that  the  Indians 
had  been  waiting  for  Parke  and  myself,  and  we  were 
given  seats  of  honor  with  the  chiefs  on  a  carpet  of 
blankets  and  robes  spread  on  a  little  knoll  at  the  edge 
of  the  ring. 

The  tom-toms  were  immediately  sounded  to  call  the 
dancers  from  their  wickiups,  where  they  had  been  mak 
ing  their  "toilets,"  of  which  paint,  feathers  and  sleigh 
bells  were  the  most  conspicuous  articles.  There  were 
at  least  three  hundred  of  them — all  men,  some  of  the 
women  singing,  but  none  dancing. 

Indians  use  the  bright  colored  paints — green,  blue, 
red,  yellow  and  white — to  enhance  their  beauty,  and 
the  young  bucks,  or  dudes,  as  the  white  boys  call  them, 


164         SERVICE  ON  THE  INDIAN  RESERVATIONS. 

spread  it  on  thick  when  they  go  courting,  or  into  the 
dance.  And  as  this  was  an  extraordinary  occasion, 
they  had  used  their  brushes  with  extraordinarily  lavish 
hands.  One  had  the  whole  of  one  eye  painted  a  bright 
yellow,  and  the  other  a  brilliant  green.  His  forehead 
was  a  blue  field  with  a  white  star  in  the  center.  One 
side  of  his  face  was  ornamented  with  green  and  yellow 
stripes,  and  the  other  with  red,  white  and  blue  stars. 
He  is  described  in  detail,  however,  only  to  give  the 
reader  an  idea  of  how  they  all  looked,  for  his  face  was 
not  painted  more  fantastically  than  scores  of  others,  and 
no  two  were  alike. 

Each  dancer  wore  from  two  to  seven  bands  of  sleigh 
bells — a  band  of  large  ones  around  the  waist,  and 
smaller  ones  around  the  ankles,  knees  and  arms.  Think 
of  three  hundred  men  dancing  with  from  two  to  seven 
bands  of  sleigh  bells  of  various  sizes  buckled  around 
them  so  as  to  jingle  with  every  motion  of  the  body  ! 
Such  a  sound  is  as  animating  to  an  Indian  camp  as  the 
Marine  Band's  "Star  Spangled  Banner"  or  "Dixie"  is 
to  an  assemblage  of  white  people. 

The  dancers  seemed  to  go  through  certain  figures, 
the  time  required  to  dance  a  set  being  about  twenty 
minutes.  At  the  end  of  the  first  one  Sowawick  stepped 
into  the  center  of  the  ring  and  made  what  seemed  from 
his  gestures  and  modulations  of  voice  to  be  a  speech  of 


EXPERIENCES  OF  A  SPECIAL   INDIAN   AGENT.       165 

general  felicitation  to  the  Utes  and  of  friendship  and 
hospitality  to  the  Sioux,  though  of  course  we  could  not 
understand  anything  he  said.  He  was  responded  to  by 
one  of  the  Sioux  chiefs  in  what  was  clearly  a  speech  of 
congratulation  and  good  will.  They  both  used  signs 
as  well  as  oral  delivery,  so  that  all  might  understand, 
for  the  Utes  and  Sioux  could  not  converse  with  each 
other  except  by  the  sign  language,  which  is  the  uni 
versal  language  of  the  plains  Indians. 

They  continued  alternately  speaking  and  dancing 
until  12  o'clock.  At  that  hour  the  chief  of  the  feast, 
a  "medicine  man"  named  Wash,  entered  the  ring  and 
made  some  sort  of  a  proclamation,  which  drew  all  the 
Indians  in  camp  still  closer  around  the  ring,  and  pro 
duced  perfect  silence.  The  dancers — of  whom  perhaps 
one  hundred  were  Sioux  and  two  hundred  Utes — sat 
down  around  the  edge  of  the  ring.  Two  camp  kettles 
full  of  steaming  meat  were  brought  from  the  fires  and 
placed  immediately  in  front  of  the  "grand  stand" — that 
is,  the  knoll  occupied  by  the  chiefs,  Parke  and  myself. 
Two  squaws  brought  some  small  dishes  and  filled  them 
with  the  stewed  meat,  which  had  been  cut  into  pieces 
about  three-quarters  of  an  inch  square  before  being 
cooked. 

The  chief  of  the  feast  took  one  of  the  dishes,  came 
up  on  the  knoll,  made  a  short  speech,  which  seemed  to 


166         SERVICE  ON  THE  INDIAN  RESERVATIONS. 

be  a  sort  of  grace  or  invocation,  and  extended  the  dish 
to  Sowawick.  Sowawick,  taking  out  a  piece  of  the 
meat  with  his  fingers,  and  holding  it  up  before  his  face, 
said  a  few  words  in  a  reverent  or  ceremonious  manner, 
dropped  the  morsel  into  his  mouth,  chewed  a  time  or 
two,  swallowed  with  some  difficulty,  batted  his  eyes, 
and  then  looked  around  with  an  expression  of  counte 
nance  which  seemed  to  say:  "That's  the  way  to  do  it; 
follow  my  example."  All  the  chiefs  and  dancers 
grunted  enthusiastic  applause. 

The  same  ceremony  was  repeated  with  the  Sioux 
chief,  and  then  Wash  turned  to  me!  Parke  and  I  had 
been  joking  each  other  considerably,  but  thinking  that 
we  had  been  excused  in  advance  by  the  chiefs,  we  did 
not  expect  any  serious  embarrassment.  The  chiefs  all 
gathered  around,  however,  and  made  us  understand  by 
signs  and  a  few  words  of  broken  English,  that  as  we 
were  their  friends  they  would  be  deeply  grieved  if  we 
did  not  partake  of  the  feast  with  them ! 

I  had  recognized  Charlie  Mack  among  the  dancers, 
and  seeing  him  sitting  not  far  away  laughing  at  us,  I 
called  to  him  to  come  and  help  us  out  of  our  dilemma. 
The  rascal  was  making  no  concealment  of  his  enjoyment 
of  our  embarrassment,  and  instead  of  coming  to  our 
assistance  he  said : 

"No;   me  one  of  de  dancers.      Me  have  to  stay  here 


EXPERIENCES  OF  A  SPECIAL   INDIAN   AGENT.       167 

now.  You  jis  eat  it  some  dog;  dat's  all  dey  want. 
Sowawick  he  tell  de  Sioux  you  his  friend.  I  speck  it 
good.  Maybe  me  eat  lots  of  it.  You  tase  it;  may 
be  you  like  it.  Fattest  kind  o'  dog.  Yaller  dog. 
One  ear  cut  off.  Me  see  him  yistiddy." 

I  brought  him  to  terms,  however,  with  a  threat  to 
strike  his  name  from  the  issue  roll  of  the  tribe,  and  after 
he  had  spoken  a  few  words  to  the  Indians  he  said: 

"Dat's  all  right.  I  tell  'em  you  no  like  it  dog;  dat 
white  man  dunno  what's  good  nohow." 

The  chiefs  grunted  their  satisfaction  with  his  expla 
nation,  and  resuming  their  seats  they  were  served  just 
as  Sowawick  and  Red  Cloud  had  been,  each  receiving 
hearty  applause  as  he  swallowed  his  morsel.  Two 
other  "medicine  men"  entered  the  ring  and  assisted 
Wash  to  administer  to  the  dancers. 

When  the  ceremonies  at  the  ring  were  ended  the 
crowd  scattered  out  in  groups  around  the  fires  in  all 
parts  of  the  camp  and  the  feast  on  fresh  beef  and  dog 
meat  became  general. 


168         SERVICE  ON  THE  INDIAN  RESERVATIONS. 


CHAPTER  XX. 

A  LITTLE  SAVAGE  IN  SCHOOL  —  HAVOC  AND  CONSTER 
NATION  AMONG  THE  LADIES  —  A  TENDERFOOT  ON  A 
BICYCLE  —  ROPING  AND  BRANDING  BEEF  CATTLE  AT 
OURAY  —  ASTONISHING  FEATS  OF  THE  CHAMPION 
"ROPER"  OF  UTAH. 


FANNIE  A.  WEEKS,  of  Florida,  was 
superintendent  of  the  Reservation  school  at 
Uintah.  Mrs.  Clara  Granger,  of  Salt  Lake  City,  was 
matron,  and  Mrs.  Annie  R.  Morgan,  of  Kentucky,  was 
seamstress.  They  were  most  excellent  ladies,  and  ad 
mirably  adapted  to  their  respective  places. 

The  Uncompahgres  could  not  be  induced  to  send 
any  of  their  children  to  school,  but  by  great  energy  and 
perseverance  Miss  Weeks  had  gathered  in  nearly  thirty 
very  nice  little  Uintahs  and  White  Rivers,  and  she  was 
quite  proud  of  them.  I  was  much  inclined  to  help  her, 
and  urged  the  Indians  to  bring  in  as  many  children  as 
she  could  accommodate. 

One  day  an  Indian  whom  the  employes  had  given 
the  name  of  John  Duncan,  brought  me  his  little  boy  — 


EXPERIENCES  OF  A  SPECIAL   INDIAN    AGENT.       169 

an  exceptionally  fine  specimen  of  the  juvenile  savage. 
He  was  about  seven  years  old,  and  dressed  in  a  full  suit 
of  painted,  beaded  and  fringed  buckskin,  including 
moccasins.  He  had  probably  never  been  left  alone  with 
a  white  person  a  minute  in  his  life,  and^was  almost  as 
wild  as  a  jack  rabbit.  Giving  him  some  candy,  I  told 
his  father  to  take  him  on  to  the  school,  only  a  little 
over  a  hundred  yards  distant. 

In  a  short  while  John  returned  with  a  note  from  Miss 
Weeks  in  which  she  thanked  me  for  causing  the  boy  to 
be  brought  in,  and  stated  that  she  and  Mrs.  Granger 
and  Mrs.  Morgan  were  in  ecstacies  over  him,  he  was 
"so  cute"  in  his  little  suit  of  buckskin,  and  had  already 
named  him  in  my  honor. 

John  sat  down  to  tell  me  what  a  nice  boy  he  was. 
He  was  still  describing  his  precociousness  when  I  heard 
a  tremendous  disturbance  break  out  up  at  the  school- 
house.  Tables  and  chairs  were  being  hurled  about, 
women  were  screaming,  children  were  running  in  every 
direction,  and  in  a  moment  Mrs.  Morgan  came  flying 
out  of  the  house  shouting  to  me  to  come  quick,  that  that 
"little  hyena"  was  just  killing  Miss  Weeks  and  Mrs. 
Granger. 

I  ran  to  their  rescue,  of  course,  with  John  following 
at  my  heels.  In  the  main  study  room  we  found  the 
two  ladies  and  my  little  namesake,  now  alluded  to  as  a 


170         SERVICE  ON  THE  INDIAN  RESERVATIONS. 

"little  hyena."  Miss  Weeks  is  an  obese  lady  and  of 
mature  years,  and  she  was  now  too  excited  and  short  of 
breath  to  talk — absolutely  speechless.  In  fact  she  was 
almost  in  a  swoon,  and  looked  as  if  a  hyena  had  been 
toying  with  her  sure  enough.  Her  dress  was  torn,  her 
face  badly  scratched,  and  two-thirds  of  her  hair  missing. 
In  another  part  of  the  room  Mrs.  Granger  stood  trying 
to  stanch  a  strong  flow  of  blood  from  her  nose.  She 
seemed  to  be  even  more  hopelessly  wrecked  than  Miss 
Weeks.  Her  dress  was,  as  she  expressed  it,  "just 
ruined,"  the  few  short  tufts  of  hair  that  she  had  left 
from  a  beautiful  suit  looked  "just  shocking,"  her  face 
and  neck  showed  several  ugly  fingernail  scratches,  one 
ear  was  bitten  almost  off,  and  her  nose  was  swollen  to 
ridiculous  size,  and  bleeding  profusely.  Crouched  on 
top  of  a  high  wood-box  in  one  corner  of  the  room  was 
Master  Eugene  Duncan,  the  worst  scared  little  animal  I 
ever  saw.  As  soon  as  Miss  Weeks  could  speak  she 
shouted : 

"Take  that  little  wildcat  away  from  here  !  Take  him 
away!" 

"Oh,  I  should  hate  to  do  that,"  I  said;  "he  seems 
'so  cute.'  Why,  he  just  seems  to  have  you  and  Mrs. 
Granger  /;/  ecstacies!" 

That  made  them  both  so  mad  that  they  had  to  sit 
down  and  take  "a  good  cry."  When  they  had  washed 


EXPERIENCES  OF  A  SPECIAL   INDIAN   AGENT.       171 

their  faces,  swept  the  hair  and  other  debris  from  the 
floor,  and  got  in  a  good  humor,  they  gave  me  the  par 
ticulars  of  the  combat,  which,  they  said,  came  up  quite 
unexpectedly  to  them.  When  John  left  the  boy  with 
them  they  petted  him  awhile,  gave  him  nice  things  to 
eat,  and  tried  to  get  him  to  talk  to  them,  which  of  course 
he  could  not  do,  not  being  able  to  speak  or  understand 
a  word  of  English.  Finally  Miss  Weeks  turned  her 
attention  to  something  else  in  another  part  of  the  house, 
and  Mrs.  Granger  started  to  take  him  to  the  storeroom 
to  exchange  his  buckskin  for  a  suit  of  clothes.  When 
she  stooped  to  take  his  hand,  the  little  fellow  sprang  up 
on  her  shoulders  and  went  to  scratching,  biting  and 
pulling  hair  like  a  real  wildcat.  Of  course,  when  Miss 
Weeks  heard  the  screaming  she  rushed  heroically  to  the 
rescue  of  Mrs.  Granger.  In  trying  to  pull  the  boy  loose 
she  bent  Mrs.  Granger  over  on  a  table.  The  little 
Indian  jumped  off  on  the  table,  kicked  Mrs.  Granger 
on  the  nose,  leaped  up  on  Miss  Weeks'  shoulders  and 
commenced  to  pluck  her  head.  She  struggled  and 
screamed  tremendously  at  first,  but  in  a  little  while  she 
dropped  on  her  hands  and  knees  and  commenced  to 
pray.  When  she  sank  entirely  to  the  floor  the  little 
fellow  jumped  off,  ran  to  the  far  corner  of  the  room  and 
climbed  up  on  the  wood-box.  The  ladies  said  he  did 
not  utter  a  word — did  not  even  whimper — during  the 


172         SERVICE  ON  THE  INDIAN  RESERVATIONS. 

melee,  and  did  not  look  at  all  mad,  but  just  seemed  to 
be  scared  almost  to  death. 

At  my  request  John  stayed  with  him  until  next  day, 
by  which  time  he  had  become  reconciled  and  gentle, 
and  in  ten  days  he  was  a  pet  of  the  superintendent  and 
matron,  and  regarded  by  all  as  one  of  the  brightest  and 
most  amiable  children  in  the  school. 

Soon  after  this  episode  I  spent  nearly  two  weeks  at 
Ouray,  receiving  beef  cattle.  The  contract  required  the 
year's  supply  to  be  furnished  at  one  delivery  about  the 
first  of  October.  Mr.  McAndrews,  the  chief  herder, 
was  a  very  careful  man,  and  required  every  animal  to  be 
thrown,  so  that  it  could  be  thoroughly' branded. 

This  afforded  me  opportunity  to  witness  some  very 
fine  work  with  the  lasso,  and  many  excellent  feats  of 
horsemanship.  Mr.  Gidney,  one  of  the  herders,  was 
the  champion  "roper"  of  several  States  and  Territories, 
having  taken  the  premium  and  medal  at  the  Denver 
Exposition  the  year  before. 

To  throw  the  cattle  the  herders  would  all  mount  their 
trained  cow-ponies  and  ride  into  the  corral.  One  of 
them  would  rope  a  steer  by  the  horns  and  take  a  hitch 
on  a  snubbing  post,  which  was  firmly  set  in  the  ground 
in  the  center  of  the  corral.  The  others  would  sta'rt  him 
to  running  and  then  one  of  them  would  catch  him  by 
the  hind  legs.  The  latter  throw  generally  fell  to  Gid- 


EXPERIENCES  OF  A  SPECIAL   INDIAN   AGENT.       173 

ney,  as  it  was  the  most  difficult.  He  seldom  failed  to 
catch  one  leg,  and  I  think  at  least  three  times  in  five  he 
would  get  both. 

Having  the  steer  by  both  legs  he  would  quickly  wind 
the  rope  around  the  horn  of  his  saddle  and  ride  straight 
away  from  the  snubbing  post.  The  steer  being  thus 
stretched  out  and  tripped  behind,  he  would  soon  fall 
over  on  his  side  perfectly  helpless.  The  branding  irons 
were  heated  outside  by  Indian  laborers.  The  very 
instant  the  steer  was  "tied  down"  they  were  on  top  of 
him  with  the  red  hot  irons,  and  the  louder  he  bawled 
the  better  they  enjoyed  it. 

The  greatest  danger  was  in  turning  the  steers  loose 
after  they  were  branded,  for  by  that  time  they  were 
thoroughly  infuriated.  Carefully  holding  his  horns  and 
feet  until  both  ropes  were  removed,  all  hands  would 
spring  to  their  hoises  or  the  corral  fence,  and  sometimes 
it  was  a  close  race  with  some  of  them,  for  the  steer 
never  failed  to  make  a  furious  dash  for  the  first  one  he 
caught  sight  of  on  getting  to  his  feet. 

I  have  seen  a  great  deal  of  rope  work,  but  that  was 
the  best.  To  the  man  who  has  never  tried  it,  such 
work  being  done  by  a  skillful  roper  may  appear  quite 
easy.  But  whenever  a  tenderfoot  undertakes  himself  to 
throw  and  tie  down  a  big,  wild,  long-horned  steer  in  an 
open  corral,  he  soon  finds  that  he  needs  the  help  of  the 


174         SERVICE  ON  THE  INDIAN  RESERVATIONS. 

whole  neighborhood.  The  Ouray  boys  worked  very 
hard,  and  branded  considerably  over  a  hundred  a  day. 

About  this  time  a  young  fellow  from  New  York  came 
along  on  a  trip  across  the  continent  on  a  bicycle,  on  a 
race  against  the  time  made  by  another  bicyclist  some 
years  before. 

The  road  across  the  Reservation  was  not  one  of  the 
main  traveled  roads  from  Denver  to  Salt  Lake  City. 
On  the  contrary  it  was  in  some  places  merely  a  trail. 
But  having  ascertained  somehow  that  it  was  nearer  than 
the  other  routes,  he  had  recklessly  plunged  into  it. 
The  Reservation  was  not  shown  on  his  map,  however, 
and  he  said  he  did  not  know  there  was  an  Indian  in  the 
United  States  outside  of  the  Indian  Territory.  Nobody 
had  thought  to  tell  him  about  the  Utes,  all  supposing 
that  he  knew  where  they  were.  The  Agency  being 
marked  on  his  map  as  "White  Rocks,"  he  supposed  it 
was  an  ordinary  ranch  or  village,  and  was  making  for  it 
as  a  stopping  place  for  the  night. 

On  the  road  he  was  traveling  there  was  not  a  house 
to  be  seen — not  even  a  permanent  Indian  camp — between 
the  line  of  the  Reservation  and  the  Agency,  a  distance 
of  forty  miles.  But  a  mile  and  a  half  from  the  Agency 
the  Indians  had  just  the  day  before  completed  a  large 
bush  wickiup  in  the  form  of  a  horseshoe,  with  the  open 
heel  to  the  road,  and  only  a  few  feet  from  it, 


EXPERIENCES  OF  A  SPECIAL   INDIAN   AGENT.       175 

This  wickiup  being  simply  a  wall  of  green  willow 
bushes  six  or  seven  feet  high  closely  wattled  together, 
it  looked  at  a  casual  glance  just  like  a  willow  thicket, 
and  the  bicycle  man  thought  it  was.  But  there  were 
two  hundred  Utes  inside,  and  at  least  one  hundred  and 
fifty  of  them  dancing. 

As  the  sun  was  fast  disappearing  behind  the  moun 
tains,  the  traveler  was  straining  his  eyes  for  a  sight  of 
White  Rocks,  fearing  that  if  darkness  overtook  him  on 
the  plain  he  might  lose  the  road  and  be  devoured  by 
coyotes.  Hearing  a  noise  he  slowed  up  to  listen. 
Recognizing  it  as  human  voices,  he  thought  there  must  be 
a  settlement  behind  the  clump  of  willows,  and  pushed  on. 

Slowing  up  as  he  caught  a  glimpse  of  the  people 
inside,  he  had  come  to  a  full  stop  in  front  of  the  wickiup 
before  he  saw  that  they  were  Indians.  The  Indians 
seeing  him  at  the  same  instant,  they  came  rushing  out 
and  crowded  around  him  so  closely  that  he  could  not 
move.  He  had  never  seen  an  Indian,  and  they  had 
never  even  heard  of  a  bicycle.  And  there  they  were — 
face  to  face !  The  Indians  were  simply  amazed ;  the 
white  man  was  absolutely  terror-stricken.  He  sat  com 
pletely  paralyzed  with  fright  until  one  of  the  Indians 
asked  him  a  question  in  English.  That  brought  him 
back  to  consciousness  sufficiently  to  say:  "White  Rocks 
—White  Rocks." 


176         SERVICE  ON  THE  INDIAN  RESERVATIONS. 

Seeing  that  he  was  scared  nearly  to  death,  the  Indians 
stood  out  of  his  way  and  told  him  to  go  on.  Although 
he  did  not  have  to  be  told  a  second  time,  he  was  too 
weak  and  nervous  to  go  fast;  and,  to  make  the  case 
worse  for  him,  thirty  or  forty  of  the  Indians  jumped  on 
their  ponies  and  followed  close  behind  him,  partly  to 
see  how  he  got  along  on  the  wheel,  and  partly  to  see  if 
he  stopped  at  White  Rocks. 

When  the  man  arrived  at  the  Agency  he  was  almost 
delirious.  Doctor  Williams  administered  sedatives  to 
him,  but  he  tossed  restlessly  on  his  couch  all  night,  and 
for  several  hours  any  unusual  noise  would  startle  him  so 
that  an  employe  had  to  stay  in  the  room  with  him  to 
keep  him  from  jumping  up  and  running  off. 

About  sunrise  next  morning  fifteen  or  twenty  of  the 
chiefs  of  both  bands  appeared  at  the  office  for  a  council. 
It  was  evident  from  their  appearances  that  they  had 
been  up  all  night.  They  said  they  had  come  to  ask  me 
to  make  the  man  with  the  "iron  pony"  go  right  on. 
Of  course  I  knew  that  he  intended  to  go  anyhow,  but 
to  satisfy  my  curiosity  I  asked  them  why  they  did  not 
want  him  to  stop.  They  replied: 

"Because  we  never  saw  a  pony  like  that  before,  and 
we  will  not  run  our  ponies  against  it.  It  is  not  like  our 
ponies,  and  we  do  not  know  how  fast  it  can  run.  It 
has  no  feet,  no  mouth,  no  get  breath,  maybe  so  no  get 


EXPERIENCES  OF  A  SPECIAL   INDIAN    AGENT.       177 

tired.  Injun  dunno.  Maybe  so  white  man  want  to 
heap  win  him  Injun  money  and  pony.  Dunno.  Injun 
think  so.  You  make  him  go  on.  No  let  him  sit  down 
here.  Injun  no  run  it  any  more  horse  race  until  he  gets 
off  the  Reservation." 

It  was  evident  that  they  believed  the  bicycle  was  an 
"iron  race-horse"  that  the  man  had  brought  there  to 
run  against  their  ponies.  But  he  had  even  less  use  for 
them  than  they  did  for  him,  and  twenty  minutes  after 
their  arrival  they  had  the  satisfaction  of  seeing  him  de 
part.  At  Salt  Lake  City  he  gave  the  newspaper 
reporters  a  breezy,  four-column  account  of  the  incident, 
which  they  printed  under  half  a  column  of  displayed 
headlines. 


178         SERVICE  ON  THE  INDIAN  RESERVATIONS. 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

A    TRIP    TO    SALT    LAKE    CITY — ON    THE    ROOF    OF    A 

SQUATTER'S  "DUGOUT" — THROUGH  DEEP  AND 
NARROW  CANYONS  —  WONDERFUL  ECHOES  —  UTAH 
LAKE,  JORDAN  RIVER  AND  GREAT  SALT  LAKE — SALT 
LAKE  CITY — RETURN  TO  THE  AGENCY. 

TN  the  latter  part  of  October  I  was  required  to  make 
•^  a  trip  to  Salt  Lake  City,  to  hurry  up  the  delivery 
of  the  annual  supplies  at  Uintah  and  Ouray  before  the 
roads  became  blockaded  with  snow,  the  small  creeks 
being  already  frozen  over. 

Deciding  to  take  Mr.  McKewen  with  me,  we  agreed 
to  meet  at  Fort  DuChesne  and  start  to  the  railroad  from 
that  place.  He  came  up  to  the  Post  in  the  afternoon 
of  October  3ist,  and  I  arranged  to  start  at  2  o'clock  in 
the  morning  and  get  there  for  breakfast. 

Mr.  Hemsworth,  the  farmer,  was  to  take  me.  Calling 
me  at  -1:30,  as  directed,  he  made  the  unwelcome  an 
nouncement  that  it  was  "snowing  to  beat  creation," 
and  suggested  that  we  take  a  span  of  nimble-footed 


EXPERIENCES  OF  A  SPECIAL   INDIAN   AGENT.       179 

mules,  instead  of  horses,  as  they  could  travel  in  the 
snow  with  less  difficulty,  to  which  I  assented. 

We  started  at  2  o'clock.  The  snow  was  then  three 
or  four  inches  deep,  and  still  falling  beautifully.  A  mile 
from  the  Agency  the  road  crosses  a  creek,  one  of  the 
main  branches  of  the  little  Uintah  River.  A  dense 
thicket  of  willows  and  grease  wood  extends  entirely 
across  the  bottom  on  both  sides  of  the  road.  Until  we 
came  to  the  bottom  the  mules,  mule  like,  kept  trying  to 
quit  the  road  and  turn  back,  but  when  we  got  in  between 
the  walls  of  the  bush  we  felt  no  further  danger  of  losing 
our  way. 

The  creek  had  low,  sloping  banks,  and  I  remembered 
afterwards  that  the  road  ran  diagonally  across  it. 
When  we  had  been  driving  long  enough,  as  I  thought, 
to  be  entirely  across  the  bottom  I  remarked  to  Hems- 
worth  that  we  seemed  to  be  a  long  time  getting  to  the 
creek.  Being  of  an  exceedingly  sanguine  temperament, 
he  whipped  up  the  team  and  replied : 

"No;  we've  hardly  got  that  far  yet.  We'll  come  to 
it  pretty  soon.  These  blamed  mules  don't  like  to  take 
the  snow." 

I  knew,  however,  that  we  were  traveling  at  the  rate 
of  five  or  six  miles  an  hour,  and  I  could  also  tell  that 
we  were  making  a  great  many  abrupt  turns  that  I  had 
never  noticed  in  the  road.  Fifteen  or  twenty  minute 


180         SERVICE  ON  THE  INDIAN  RESERVATIONS. 

later  I  happened  to  think  or  notice  that  the  buggy  had 
ceased  to  jolt  against  the  cobblestones,  and  that  the 
road  seemed  to  be  as  smooth  and  soft  as  a  carpeted 
floor.  I  was  sure  we  had  traveled  at  least  five  or  six 
miles,  and  told  Mr.  Hemsworth  so.  He  still  thought 
we  would  come  to  the  creek  in  a  little  while,  and  gave 
the  mules  several  vigorous  cuts  with  the  whip,  pushing 
them  into  a  brisk  trot. 

Striking  a  match  and  holding  it  to  my  watch,  I 
showed  Mr.  Hemsworth  that  we  had  been  traveling  an 
hour  and  twenty  minutes.  He  was  excitable  and  im 
pulsive  as  well  as  sanguine.  Throwing  his  whole  weight 
back  on  the  reins,  he  exclaimed: 

"Whoa!  Well,  great  caesar !  Where  do  you  sup 
pose  these  dog-gone  mules  is  takin'  us?" 

Jumping  out  of  the  buggy  and  feeling  around  in  the 
snow  with  our  hands,  we  discovered,  to  Mr.  Hemsworth's 
unspeakable  amazement,  that  we  were  traveling  in  the 
channel  of  the  creek  on  the  ice.  The  willow  and  grease 
wood  bushes  were  bent  over  by  the  snow  until  there  was 
just  room  enough  to  drive  in  the  center  of  the  channel. 

One  of  us  lifting  the  hind  wheels  of  the  buggy  around 
while  the  other  turned  the  team,  we  started  back  to  find 
the  road.  Mr.  Hemsworth  was  greatly  exercised  to 
know  whether  we  had  gone  up  stream  or  down.  Neither 
of  us  could  tell,  and,  of  course,  without  knowing  that, 


EXPERIENCES  OF  A  SPECIAL   INDIAN    AGENT.       181 

we  would  not  know  which  end  of  the  road  to  take  when 
we  found  it. 

In  a  short  while  we  came  to  a  small  opening  on  the 
banks,  and  Mr.  Hemsworth  got  out  to  feel  for  the  road. 
It  was  not  there,  and  he  reported  that  the  snow,  which 
was  still  falling  furiously,  had  already  obliterated  the 
tracks  we  had  made  in  going  down.  We  continued  an 
hour  and  a  half  in  that  direction,  stopping  frequently  to 
feel  for  the  road,  and  then  concluding  that  we  had 
passed  it,  we  turned  back. 

And  thus  we  continued  to  drive  up  and  down  the 
creek  until  daylight  revealed  the  Agency  to  us  not  ex 
ceeding  a  mile  away.  Mr.  Hemsworth  swore  it  was  on 
the  wrong  side  of  the  creek,  and  would  not  believe  it 
was  the  Agency.  But  taking  bearings  from  it  anyhow, 
we  soon  found  the  road  and  resumed  our  journey  to  the 
Post,  arriving  there  at  9  o'clock,  the  distance  from  the 
Agency  being  estimated  at  twelve  miles. 

After  a  short  stop  for  breakfast,  Mr.  McKewen  and  I 
took  the  road  to  Price  Station,  on  the  Denver  &  Rio 
Grande  Railroad,  ninety  miles  distant,  with  the  Ouray 
team,  a  span  of  large  horses.  At  12  o'clock  we  stopped 
at  DuChesne  River  for  lunch. 

There  is  not  a  drop  of  water  between"  DuChesne  River 
and  Minnie  Maud  Creek,  in  Nine  Mile  Canyon,  a  dis 
tance  of  forty-two  miles.  Neither  of  us  had  ever  been 


182         SERVICE  ON  THE  INDIAN  RESERVATIONS. 

over  the  road  before,  but  we  had  been  informed  that  we 
could  get  accommodations  for  the  night  at  Brock's, 
whose  place  we  would  find  in  the  canyon,  on  the  bank 
of  Minnie  Maud  Creek.  Nobody  had  thought  to  tell 
us  what  sort  of  a  place  it  was,  and  of  course  we  both 
expected  to  see  a  house.  It  was  10  o'clock  at  night 
when  we  arrived  at  the  creek.  Seeing  no  house,  we 
hallooed,  but  received  no  answer,  except  the  wonderful 
echo,  which  alone  seemed  loud  enough  to  wake  the 
sleeping  for  miles  around.  Turning  to  one  side  we 
drove  up  on  a  low  bluff  overlooking  a  little  valley  in  a 
bend  of  the  creek.  Stopping  at  the  very  brink  of  the 
bluff  we  hallooed  again.  Quick  as  a  flash  a  man  darted 
right  out  from  beneath  our  horses'  feet.  Running  out 
about  fifteen  steps  in  front,  he  whirled  around,  threw  up 
his  hands  wildly,  and  fairly  shrieked : 

"What  in  the  thunderation  you  doin'  up  there  on  top 
o'  my  house?  Git  down  from  there  quick,  or  I'll  shoot 
your  dog-goned  heads  off!" 

It  was  Brock — or  Mr.  Brock,  as  we  were  very  par 
ticular  to  call  him — whose  house  was  merely  a  "dug 
out,"  the  back  end  being  level  with  the  surface,  and  the 
front  flush  with  the  face  of  the  bluff.  The  dirt  roof  was 
supported  by  a  layer  of  cottonwood  poles.  We  had 
driven  out  on  the  roof  at  the  rear  end  and  stopped  within 
a  foot  of  the  front  edge,  immediately  over  the  door. 


EXPERIENCES  OF  A  SPECIAL   INDIAN   AGENT.       183 

When  Brock  got  through  saying  things  to  us,  which 
it  took  him  some  time  to  do,  he  told  us  that  he  was 
asleep  in  a  chair  by  his  little  sheet-iron  stove  when  he 
was  suddenly  awakened  by  our  halloo,  and  hearing  the 
roof  poles  cracking,  and  a  great  shower  of  clods  falling 
on  him  at  the  same  instant,  he  thought  the  roof  was 
falling  in.  Of  course  he  was  badly  frightened,  and  he 
said  that  when  he  got  outside  and  saw  our  horses  out 
lined  against  the  sky  they  looked  as  tall  as  giraffes  and 
as  big  as  elephants. 

When  I  ventured  to  express  my  opinion  of  a  white 
man  who  would  live  alone  in  "a  hole  in  the  ground" 
there  in  that  lonely  canyon,  Mr.  Brock  admitted  that 
he  was  doing  it  for  revenue  and  not  for  pleasure.  Being 
the  only  settler  on  the  road,  and  situated  midway  be 
tween  the  railroad  and  the  two  Agencies,  Fort  DuChesne 
and  the  town  of  Ashley,  he  had  a  monopoly  of  consid 
erable  traffic.  He  kept  all  sorts  of  forage  and  supplies, 
and  no  traveler  or  freighter  could  very  well  pass  in 
either  direction  without  spending  some  money  with  him. 

Between  DuChesne  River  and  Price  there  are  nearly 
thirty  miles  of  canyons,  and  in  many  places  they  are  so 
narrow  and  crooked,  and  their  walls  so  high  and  steep, 
that  everywhere  the  road  seems  to  be  abutting  squarely 
against  a  vertical  wall  only  a  few  yards  ahead. 

In  such   places  there  are  wonderful  echoes.      A  loud 


184         SERVICE  ON  THE  INDIAN  RESERVATIONS. 

halloo  will  reverberate  from  cliff  to  cliff  and  come  back 
to  the  listener  in  a  great  wave  of  echoes  from  a  hundred 
different  directions,  and  when  they  have  almost  died 
away  in  the  distance,  they  gather  volume  and  come 
back  again,  to  be  followed  that  time  by  an  awful  still 
ness  and  silence. 

From  Price  we  had  a  delightful  daylight  run  to  Salt 
Lake  City,  arriving  there  about  the  middle  of  the  after 
noon.  At  Provo  the  traveler  gets  a  fair  view  of  Utah 
Lake,  a  large  fresh  water  lake  situated  nearly  five  thou 
sand  feet  above  the  sea.  From  the  north  end  of  Utah 
Lake  the  railroad  follows  the  meanderings  of  the  Jordan 
River  of  the  Mormons  to  Salt  Lake  City.  The  Jordan 
River  has  a  swift  current,  and  draws  off  the  waters  of 
Utah  Lake,  of  which  it  is  the  only  outlet,  and  pours 
them  into  the  Great  Salt  Lake.  These  two  lakes — one 
fresh  and  the  other  salt,  or  "dead" — and  their  connect 
ing  river  are  remarkable  counterparts  of  the  Sea  of  Gal 
ilee,  the  Dead  Sea,  and  the  Jordan  River  of  the  Holy 
Land. 

The  Great  Salt  Lake  is  one  hundred  miles  long  by 
sixty  miles  wide,  and  has  an  average  depth  of  forty  feet. 
Its  surface  is  four  thousand  four  hundred  feet  above  the 
sea,  and  it  has  no  known  outlet.  Three  fresh  water 
rivers,  the  Jordan,  the  Weber,  the  Bear,  and  several 
smaller  streams  fed  by  springs  and  melting  snows  in  the 


EXPERIENCES  OF  A  SPECIAL    INDIAN   AGENT.       185 

mountains,  empty  into  it,  and  yet  its  waters  contain 
more  than  twenty-five  per  cent  of  salt  in  solution,  for 
which  reason  it  is  said  that  there  is  not  a  fish  or  other 
living  thing  in  it.  The  water  is  remarkably  clear  and 
transparent,  and  so  heavy  that  a  human  body  will  not 
sink  in  it. 

Salt  Lake  City  is  situated  on  the  plain  at  the  base  of 
the  Wahsatch  Mountains,  seven  miles  from  the  lake. 
It  is  the  capital  of  the  Territory,  and  also  the  chief  city 
of  the  Mormons,  by  whom  it  was  founded  when  they 
were  driven  from  Nauvoo,  Illinois,  in  1847,  Utah  at 
that  time  being  Mexican  territory. 

It  is  a  picturesque  and  delightful  city,  and  in  many 
respects  unlike  any  other  in  the  United  States.  It  was 
laid  out  on  a  liberal  scale,  and  has  over  a  hundred  miles 
of  streets  one  hundred  and  twenty  feet  wide.  The 
blocks  are  six  hundred  and  sixty  feet  square,  and  a 
stream  of  clear  water  and  a  row  of  shade  trees  line  each 
side  of  most  of  the  streets. 

The  famous  Temple  Block  constitutes  the  heart,  or 
center  of  the  city.  It  contains  the  magnificent  Mormon 
Temple,  the  celebrated  Tabernacle,  the  mysterious  En 
dowment  House,  and  another  church  edifice  known  as 
the  Assembly  Hall. 

The  Temple  is  a  magnificent  edifice.  It  is  built  of 
granite,  and  is  two  hundred  feet  long  and  one  hundred 


186         SERVICE  ON  THE  INDIAN  RESERVATIONS. 

feet  wide.  The  walls  are  one  hundred  feet  high,  nine 
feet  thick  at  the  bottom  and  six  feet  at  the  top.  There 
are  three  towers  at  each  end  over  two  hundred  feet  high. 
The  Mormons  have  been  forty  years  building  it,  laying 
the  corner  stone  in  1853,  an^  dedicating  it  the  present 
year,  1893. 

The  Tabernacle  is  chiefly  remarkable  perhaps  on  ac 
count  of  its  peculiar  shape,  the  roof  being  oval,  or  in 
the  form  of  a  turtle's  back.  The  Mormons  claim  that 
this  is  the  largest  roof  in  the  world  without  central  sup 
port.  It  contains  a  million  shingles,  besides  a  large 
space  at  the  apex  covered  with  metal.  This  Taber 
nacle,  like  the  Temple,  was  built  by  Mormon  architects, 
the  prophets  claiming  that  the  plans  of  both  buildings 
were  revealed  to  them  in  visions. 

The  Endowment  House  is  a  one-story  adobe  cottage. 
It  is  situated  in  one  corner  of  the  Temple  Block,  and 
until  the  completion  of  the  great  Temple  all  the  secret 
endowment  rites  of  the  church  were  performed  within 
its  walls.  I  was  told  that  no  Gentile  had  ever  seen 
inside  of  it. 

The  Tithing  Office,  where  the  tithes  or  church  taxes 
are  collected,  is  situated  just  across  the  street  from  the 
Temple  Block. 

Mr.  McKewen  and  I  spent  three  days  in  delightful 
recreation  and  sight-seeing  in  the  city.  The  visit  would 


EXPERIENCES  OF  A  SPECIAL  INDIAN   AGENT.      187 

have  been  enjoyable  to  me  at  any  time,  but  it  was  all 
the  more  so  to  us  both  on  this  occasion  because  of  our 
long  sojourn  among  the  Utes  on  the  Dry  Tortugas,  as 
Mr.  McKewen  called  the  Uncompahgre  Reservation. 
We  were  absent  ten  days,  but  upon  our  return  to  the 
Agency  we  found  the  Indians  quiet,  and  everything 
moving  along  smoothly. 


188         SERVICE  ON  THE  INDIAN  RESERVATIONS. 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

RELIEVED  AT  UINTAH  AND  OURAY — DEPART  FOR  THE 
INDIAN  TERRITORY — SPEND  TWO  DAYS  IN  "ZION" 
FRATERNIZING  WITH  THE  "SAINTS" — THROUGH  THE 
GRAND  CANYON  AND  ROYAL  GORGE  OF  THE  ARKAN 
SAS — A  BLIZZARD  AT  DODGE  CITY,  KANSAS — A  DEER 
HUNT  IN  THE  TERRITORY — TO  OSAGE  AGENCY. 

A  S  soon  as  the  disturbances  at  Uintah  and  Ouray 
•*>  -  were  abated  the  Department  commenced  to  look 
around  for  a  permanent  Agent.  But  the  Indians  had 
become  so  notorious  that  it  was  hard  to  find  a  suitable 
man  who  would  accept  the  place.  During  the  fall  it 
was  declined  by  four  different  men. 

The  fifth  appointee,  Colonel  Timothy  A.  Byrnes,  of 
New  Jersey,  had  the  nerve  to  accept,  and  wanted  an 
office  too  bad  to  decline.  He  arrived  in  the  latter  part 
of  December,  coming  in  from  Green  River,  Wyoming, 
on  top  of  seven  sacks  of  Christmas  mail,  on  the  wab 
bling  little  mail  sled. 

Being  relieved  by  Colonel  Byrnes  on  the  first  of  Jan 
uary,  I  immediately  departed  for  Muscogee,  in  the 


EXPERIENCES  OF  A  SPECIAL   INDIAN   AGENT.       189 

Indian  Territory,  going  by  way  of  Salt  Lake  City,  to 
which  place  I  was  accompanied  by  Mr.  Clarence  A. 
Granger,  who  had  lived  there  several  years,  and  was 
related  to  a  number  of  prominent  Mormon  families. 

Having  become  greatly  attached  to  all  of  the  em 
ployes  and  many  of  the  Indians  during  my  term  of 
seven  months  at  Uintah  and  Ouray,  I  bade  them  good 
bye  with  deep  and  sincere  regret,  and  in  the  earnest 
hope  that  I  might  some  day  meet  them  all  again,  a 
hope  which  I  still  entertain,  but  which  we  all  knew  then, 
as  I  feel  now,  is  not  likely  ever  to  be  realized. 

Mr.  Granger  and  I  spent  three  days  in  "Zion"  fra 
ternizing  with  the  "Saints,"  being  the  recipients  of 
many  courtesies  and  hospitalities  from  his  Mormon  rel 
atives  and  friends,  all  of  whom  were  highly  intelligent 
and  refined  people,  and  with  whom  my  brief  acquaint 
ance  was  extremely  delightful. 

From  Salt  Lake  City  I  proceeded  to  the  Indian 
Territory  by  way  of  the  Denver  &  Rio  Grande  Railroad 
to  Pueblo,  Colorado  ;  thence  over  the  Sante  Fe  to  Kansas 
City,  and  thence  south  on  the  M.  K.  &  T.  to  Muscogee. 

The  Denver  &  Ri.o  Grande  claims  to  be  the  scenic 
route  of  the  continent,  and  the  scenery  along  its  line  is 
certainly  very  grand.  On  the  west  side  of  the  Rocky 
Mountains  it  passes  through  the  famous  Black  Canyon 
of  the  Gunnison  River,  and  on  the  east  side  it  runs 


ROYAL  GORGE,  GRAND  CANYON  OF  THE  ARKANSAS. 


EXPERIENCES  OF  A  SPECIAL    INDIAN    AGENT.       191 

through  the  Royal  Gorge  and  Grand  Canyon  of  the 
Arkansas  River. 

The  Grand  Canyon  is  seventeen  miles  long,  and  the 
Royal  Gorge  is  so  narrow,  and  the  solid  rock  walls  so 
high  and  steep,  that  a  bridge  of  peculiar  design  had  to 
be  built  through  it  over  the  channel  of  the  river  for  the 
railroad  track.  It  is  called  the  Devil's  Bridge,  and  is 
said  to  be  the  only  one  of  the  kind  in  the  world.  It  is 
suspended  from  iron  girders  set  in  the  walls  of  the  gorge 
in  the  form  of  rafters. 

At  Dodge  City,  in  Western  Kansas,  our  train  was 
caught  in  a  blizzard — one  of  the  worst  ever  known  on 
the  plains,  and  the  first  bad  one  I  ever  saw. 

A  tenderfoot  once  asked  a  distinguished  United 
States  Senator  from  Kansas  what  a  blizzard  was.  "A 
blizzard,  sir,"  replid  the  Senator,  "is  a  cold  wind, 
which,  rising  at  the  North  Pole,  moves  south  or  south 
by  southeast,  through  Manitoba,  the  Dakotas  and  Ne 
braska,  increasing  its  velocity  and  intensifying  its 
frigidity,  until  it  reaches  Kansas,  when  it  will  penetrate 
a  three-foot  brick  wall,  all  the  blankets  that  one  family 
can  get  together,  the  thickest  and  most  abundant  cloth 
ing,  pierce  right  through  your  flesh,  and  die  away 
whistling  Yankee  Doodle  through  your  marrow  bones." 

Colonel  Pat  Donan,  in  describing  the  suddenness  with 
which  blizzards  usually  make  their  appearance  in  the 


192          SERVICE  ON  THE  INDIAN  RESERVATIONS. 

country,  once  narrated  the  following  incident:  "One 
morning  toward  the  middle  of  January  my  old  friend, 
Judge  Willis  Samuel,  who  lived  down  on  Salt  River,  a 
stream  of  which  you  have  probably  heard,  started  to 
haul  a  heavy  log  to  Hickman's  sawmill,  about  two  miles 
from  his  house.  It  was  so  warm  that  he  was  in  his 
shirt  sleeves,  and  only  threw  his  coat  up  on  the  wagon 
because  he  knew  the  changeableness  of  the  climate.  As 
his  oxen  jogged  along  he  passed  a  small  pond  near  a 
crab  apple  thicket.  The  crab  apple  trees  were  budding, 
and  the  pond  was  literally  swarming  with  frogs,  all  with 
their  heads  poked  up  and  mouths  wide  open,  singing 
like  mud  larks  a  joyous  anthem  to  spring.  By  the  time 
he  reached  the  mill  the  wind  had  whipped  around  to 
the  northwest,  and  it  began  to  sleet  and  snow.  Before 
he  could  get  the  log  off  his  wagon  it  was  bitterly  cold 
and  a  blizzard  raging.  He  jerked  on  his  coat,  borrowed 
a  blanket,  and  started  his  oxen  home  at  a  swinging  trot. 
In  a  few  minutes  he  reached  the  pond  he  had  passed, 
and  there  were  all  the  poor  little  frogs,  with  their  heads 
sticking  through  the  ice  and  their  mouths  still  open. 
The  pond  had  frozen  over  so  suddenly  that  the  ice  had 
caught  them  round  their  throats  and  choked  them  to 
death  before  they  could  pull  their  heads  under  or  shut 
their  mouths.  It  was  a  sad  sight," 

Of  course  I  am  not  expected  to  vouch  for  anything 


EXPERIENCES  OF  A  SPECIAL   INDIAN    AGENT.       193 

either  Colonel  Donan  or  a  United  States  Senator  has 
said  or  may  say  in  reference  to  blizzards.  To  be  entirely 
candid,  I  hardly  think  I  could  afford  to  do  so.  But  the 
blizzard  at  Dodge  City  came  upon  us  quite  as  suddenly 
as  that  one  did  upon  Judge  Samuel  and  the  frogs,  and 
was  very  much  of  the  character  of  the  one  described  by 
the  Senator.  As  we  went  thundering  along  over  the 
plains  every  car  window  was  open.  About  4  o'clock  in 
the  afternoon  the  sky  became  overcast.  Almost  at  the 
same  instant  there  came  howling  about  the  train  a  wind 
which  seemed  to  be  a  breath  direct  from  the  arctic 
regions.  Apparently  with  one  movement  every  window 
was, closed.  Ten  minutes  later  the  passengers  were 
calling  for  fire,  and  by  the  time  that  was  done  the  cars 
were  so  darkened  by  frost  on  the  window  panes  that 
lamps  had  to  be  lighted. 

The  clouds  were  dark  and  heavy,  and  seemed  to  come 
down  entirely  to  the  earth.  The  gale  was  blowing  fifty 
miles  or  more  an  hour,  and  there  was  something  that 
glittered  and  hissed  and  moaned  and  howled  dolefully 
in  the  wind.  It  was  not  snow.  It  was  colder  than 
snow.  It  was  not  sleet.  It  was  colder  than  sleet.  It 
was  not  sheets  of  ice.  It  was  colder  than  mere  ice.  It 
was  glittering,  bristling,  spangled  spears  of  frost,  and 
wherever  it  fell  on  one's  hands  or  face  it  seemed  to  sink 

right  into  the  flesh  without  melting. 

(7) 


194         SERVICE  ON  THE  INDIAN  RESERVATIONS. 

This  blizzard  kept  us  "snowed  in"  four  days,  and 
was  pronounced  by  the  Dodge  City  and  Topeka  papers 
the  severest  one  ever  known  in  the  history  of  the  State. 

My  business  at  Muscogee  was  to  investigate  another 
sale  of  lands  by  some  of  the  Shawnee  Indians,  though 
not  of  Black  Bob's  band.  In  the  course  of  this  investi 
gation  I  had  to  visit  Vinita  and  the  Sac  and  Fox  Agency, 
in  the  Indian  Territory,  Chetopa  and  Oswego,  Kansas, 
and  Kansas  City,  Missouri. 

Enroute  to  Sac  and  Fox  I  had  to  lay  over  a  day  at 
Red  Fork,  for  want  of  transportation.  Two  old  plains 
men  who  were  getting  ready  to  go  hunting,  invited  me 
to  accompany  them.  I  was  afterwards  informed  that 
they  mistook  me  for  a  tenderfoot  drummer,  or  "com 
mercial  pilgrim,"  as  they  expressed  it,  and  expected  to 
have  some  fun  at  my  expense.  They  were  exceedingly 
kind,  however,  and  furnished  me  a  good  mount  and  gun. 

Riding  out  in  a  northwesterly  course  we  skirted  the 
brakes  of  the  Arkansas  River  up  in  the  direction  of  the 
mouth  of  the  Cimarron  River.  There  was  five  inches 
of  snow  on  the  ground,  just  as  there  was  at  the  time  of 
my  trip  to  Sac  and  Fox  a  year  before.  In  some  of  the 
ravines  it  was  twenty  feet  deep,  and  badly  crusted. 
This  made  it  difficult  and  somewhat  dangerous  to  ride 
through  the  brakes,  where  bluffs  and  ravines  were 
numerous. 


EXPERIENCES  OF  A  SPECIAL  INDIAN  AGENT.     195 

Three  or  four  miles  out  one  of  my  companions  got  a 
long  shot  at  a  deer  with  a  Winchester  rifle.  Finding 
blood,  we  set  out  on  the  trail  The  blood  soon  ceased, 
and,  our  chase  falling  in  with  others,  tracks  became 
numerous.  Agreeing  to  meet  in  the  afternoon  at  a  cer 
tain  high  point  which  my  companions  pointed  out  to 
me,  we  separated,  each  taking  a  different  trail. 

My  deer  led  me  across  a  creek,  and  did  not  seem  to 
be  going  anywhere  in  particular.  In  fact  he  rather  ap 
peared  to  be  just  experimenting  to  see  how  crooked  a 
trail  he  could  make  through  the  snow.  Finally  I  trailed 
him  into  the  mouth  of  a  shallow  canyon.  Planning  to 
head  him  off,  I  galloped  along  the  ridge  a  few  hundred 
yards  towards  the  head  of  the  canyon.  Then,  in  order 
to  descend  and  approach  with  less  noise,  I  dismounted 
some  distance  back  from  the  bluff,  tied  my  horse  there, 
and  started  down  on  foot. 

The  brow  of  the  bluff  had  been  swept  bare  of  snow  by 
the  winds.  From  the  brink  there  appeared  to  be  a 
smooth  slope  to  the  broad  bottom  twenty-five  feet 
below.  Starting  down  this  declivity,  at  the  very  first 
step  I  failed  to  find  footing.  Instead  of  being  an 
incline,  it  was  a  perpendicular  bluff  twenty-five  feet 
high.  The  snow  had  simply  blown  over  it  and  banked 
up  from  the  bottom  to  the  top.  Breaking  through  the 
crust,  I  fell  headlong  to  the  bottom,  striking  on  some 


196        SERVICE  ON  THE  INDIAN  RESERVATIONS. 

rough  undergrowth  and  rocks,  which  stunned  me  to 
insensibility.  My  clothes  were  badly  torn,  and  my 
face  bruised  and  lacerated.  Of  course  my  fall  was 
somewhat  obstructed  by  the  density  of  the  snow ;  other 
wise  I  certainly  would  have  been  killed  outright. 

When  I  regained  consciousness  I  was  almost  frozen, 
snow  having  found  its  way  down  my  collar,  and  up  my 
sleeves,  by  the  handful.  My  hat  and  gun  were  both 
missing.  Feeling  about  in  the  snow,  I  at  length  found 
the  gun,  and  then  abandoning  my  hat,  I  tied  a  hand 
kerchief  around  my  head  and  groped  my  way  out  of 
the  drift.  This  required  exertions  which  so  exhausted 
my  strength  that  I  thought  I  should  succumb  before  I 
could  struggle  out.  Having  no  idea  of  the  right 
direction  I  did  not  go  straight  out.  As  I  meandered, 
the  distance  was  at  least  fifty  yards. 

Stopping  to  take  a  survey  of  myself,  I  was  amazed 
at  my  wrecked  condition.  I  could  hardly  have  been 
worse  battered  up  by  a  leap  from  the  mythical  "jump 
ing  off  place"  which  is  supposed  to  be  the  end  of  all 
reckless  careers. 

Limping  along  down  the  canyon  to  a  place  where 
the  wall  was  less  precipitous,  I  dragged  myself  up  to 
the  horse.  My  appearance  was  so  changed  that  he  not 
only  failed  to  recognize  me,  but  actually  became  fright 
ened  as  I  drew  near.  Rearing  and  plunging,  he 


EXPERIENCES  OF  A  SPECIAL   INDIAN   AGENT.       197 

seemed  about  to  break  loose  and  leave  me  afoot  there 
in  the  snow.  As  I  was  already  in  an  exhausted  condi 
tion,  I  felt  sure  that  if  he  escaped  from  me  I  would 
perish  before  my  comrades  could  track  me  up.  But, 
by  removing  the  handkerchief  from  my  head,  and 
approaching  gently  and  coaxingly,  I  succeeded  in 
quieting  him.  Getting  hold  of  the  bridle,  I  led  him  to 
a  boulder,  from  which  I  managed  to  mount. 

By  this  time  my  fondness  for  hunting  seemed  to  be 
entirely  extinguished.  Anyhow  I  had  enough  of  the 
sport  for  that  day,  and  my  intention  was  to  ride  straight 
to  the  designated  meeting  place,  and  there  make  a  fire 
and  await  the  arrival  of  my  friends.  I  hoped  that 
nothing  would  get  in  my  way.  I  felt  that  the  sight  of 
game  would  be  an  annoyance  to  me.  I  did  not  wish 
to  be  troubled  to  even  raise  my  gun  and  shoot.  Badly 
hurt,  cold,  mad,  tired  and  disgusted,  I  only  wished 
that  I  could  get  back  to  Red  Fork  without  moving 
again  in  my  saddle. 

But  I  had  ridden  less  than  three  hundred  yards  when 
I  was  startled  by  a  tremendous  flapping  of  wings.  A 
flock  of  turkeys  being  huddled  together  and  sunning 
themselves  in  a  bare  spot  on  the  south  side  of  a  boulder, 
I  was  in  twenty  feet  of  them  before  they  arose  to  wing. 
Instantly  my  hurts  and  fatigue  were  forgotten,  but 
before  I  could  get  my  gun  in  hand  all  the  turkeys  were 


198        SERVICE  ON  THE  INDIAN  RESERVATIONS. 

out  of  range,  having  separated  and  flown  in  various 
directions.  One  very  large  gobbler  apparently  too 
heavy  to  fly  far,  alighted  in  a  tree  just  beyond  range. 
Seeing  me  riding  towards  him,  he  pitched  off  across  a 
small  creek.  When  he  was  sixty  yards  from  me,  and 
perhaps  forty  feet  above  the  earth,  I  fired,  and  he  fell 
heavily  in  the  snow.  Dismounting,  I  lifted  him  up 
against  the  side  of  the  horse  and  tied  him  to  the  saddle. 

Attempting  to  remount  from  the  ground,  I  found 
myself  too  sore  and  stiff  to  accomplish  that  feat. 
Leading  my  horse  and  trudging  some  two  hundred 
yards  through  the  snow,  I  came  to  the  trunk  of  a  fallen 
tree,  from  which  I  remounted. 

Being  now  utterly  worn  out  it  was  still  my  wish  to 
return  to  Red  Fork  without  further  trouble  or  delay. 
Of  course  I  would  shoot  game  if  it  got  in  my  way. 
Nevertheless,  I  hoped  that  nothing  would  obtrude  itself 
upon  me.  But,  as  before,  I  had  gone  less  than  a 
quarter  of  a  mile  when  my  attention  was  arrested  by  a 
commotion  in  a  clump  of  green  briers  on  the  bank  of  a 

• 

small  creek.  Halting  to  ascertain  the  cause,  I  was 
surprised  to  see  that  it  was  a  deer — a  beautiful  young 
buck.  He  was  daintily  browsing  on  the  leaves  of  an 
evergreen  vine.  Descrying  me  as  I  came  to  a  halt,  he 
bounded  out  of  the  thicket.  As  he  dashed  away  I 
gave  him  one  barrel  at  a  distance  of  perhaps  eighty 


EXPERIENCES  OF  A  SPECIAL   INDIAN   AGENT.       199 

yards.  Leaping  high  in  the  air,  he  came  down  on  his 
back  in  the  snow.  Bounding  to  his  feet  again  as  quick 
as  a  flash,  he  sped  furiously  on  eighty  or  ninety  yards, 
and  then  fell  dead.  Tying  him  to  the  horn  of  the  sad 
dle  with  my  picket-rope,  I  dragged  him  through  the 
snow  to  the  bank  of  a  small  ravine  near  by.  Then 
leading  my  horse  down  into  the  ravine  to  a  level  with 
the  bank,  I  rolled  the  deer  across  his  back  behind  the 
saddle  and  tied  it  there  with  the  saddle-strings. 

Remounting  with  ease  from  the  bank  of  the  ravine, 
and  riding  slowly  on  down  the  margin  of  a  small  creek, 
I  had  proceeded  not  more  than  half  a  mile  when  a 
turkey  flew  from  a  tree  a  hundred  yards  in  front, 
coming  directly  over  me,  and  back  in  the  direction 
from  which  I  had  just  come.  Turning  in  my  saddle,  I 
got  the  gun  up  when  the  turkey  was  about  thirty  feet 
from  the  ground  and  perhaps  fifty  yards  directly  in  my 
rear.  At  the  report  of  the  gun  he  dropped  in  the  snow 
just  like  a  chunk,  with  both  wings  spread  at  full  length. 

This  shot  was  also  answered  by  a  cheerful  halloo 
from  my  friends,  who  happened  to  be  just  across  a  bend 
in  the  creek  immediately  in  front  of  me.  It  was  then 
clear  that  it  was  from  them  that  the  turkey  had  flown. 
As  they  came  across  I  was  much  amused  at  the 
amazement  with  which  they  beheld  the  remarkable 
changes  that  had  been  wrought  in  my  person  and  cloth 
ing  since  our  separation  less  than  four  hours  before. 


200         SERVICE  ON  THE  INDIAN  RESERVATIONS. 

"Hello,  pilgrim;  what  you  doin'  with  that  hanker- 
cher  on  your  head?  Whur's  your  hat  at?"  one  of 
them  asked.  Then  as  he  drew  nearer  and  got  a  better 
view  of  me,  he  exclaimed : 

"Holy  smoke!      Been  in  a  b'ar  fight?" 

"Sorry  you  sed  b'ar  fight!"  his  comrade  remarked. 
"Lcoks  more  like  he'd  been  blowed  up  with  dinnimite ! 
Say,  pilgrim;  how  did  you  git  killed,  anyhow?  And 
what  in  the  name  of  Davey  Crockett  and  Tom  Walker 
tore  them  clothes  offen  you  so  scanless  bad?" 

"That's  allus  the  way  with  a  blamed  tenderfoot;  he 
allus  thinks  he  can  go  anywhere  and  do  anything  any 
body  else  can,  and  if  you  let  him  git  out  o'  sight,  he 
either  kills  his  fool  self  or  lets  somethin'  ketch  him;" 
the  first  speaker  went  on  to  say  in  a  tone  that  was 
delightfully  hearty  and  cheerful  in  its  mock  derision. 

Having  heard  my  account  of  the  accident,  they  dis 
mounted  and  tied  the  turkey  to  my  saddle  to  counter 
balance  the  big  gobbler  I  had  previously  killed.  They 
also  congratulated  me  upon  my  success,  and  one  ol 
them  insisted  that  I  should  wear  his  hat  back  to  Red 
Fork. 

Their  success  had  been  greater  than  mine.  They 
had  two  deer,  three  turkeys,  and  five  mallard  ducks, 
which,  together  with  mine,  was  the  largest  amount  of 
game  I  had  seen  killed  in  one  day  since  my  early  boy 
hood,  when  Arkansas  was  the  huntsman's  paradise. 


EXPERIENCES  OF  A  SPECIAL   INDIAN   AGENT.       201 

Arriving  at  Red  Fork  an  hour  after  dark,  an  hour 
later  we  were  served  with  an  excellent  supper,  including 
delicious  venison  steak  from  our  own  quarry. 

Completing  the  investigation  of  the  Shawnee  land 
sale  at  Kansas  City,  I  proceeded  thence  by  way  of 
Arkansas  City,  Kansas,  to  Osage  Agency,  in  the  Indian 
Territory,  arriving  there  on  the  7th  of  March. 


202         SERVICE  ON  THE  INDIAN  RESERVATIONS. 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

PLACED  IN  CHARGE  OF  THE  OSAGE  AND  KAW  AGENCIES 
— THE  RICHEST  PEOPLE  IN  THE  WORLD — CHIEFS 
BLACK  DOG  AND  NECKAKAPAUNA — THE  EMPLOYES. 

TNSPECTOR  E.  D.  BANNISTER  had  been  at 

•**•  Osage  several  days  when  I  arrived  there,  and  had 
already  made  a  pretty  thorough  investigation.  On  the 
9th  of  March  he  suspended  the  Agent  from  office,  on 
the  ground  of  incompetency  and  irregular  conduct,  and 
placed  me  in  charge  of  the  Agency. 

Osage  Agency  is  situated  sixty-five  miles  southeast 
of  Arkansas  City,  and  thirty  miles  south  of  Cedar  Vale, 
Kansas,  in  that  part  of  the  Indian  Territory  that  has 
since  been  formed  into  Oklahoma  Territory.  There 
are  only  one  thousand  five  hundred  and  sixty  of  the 
Osages,  but  they  are  said  to  be  the  richest  tribe  or 
nation  of  people  in  the  world,  in  proportion  to  numbers. 
Their  Reservation,  which  they  bought  from  the  Chero- 
kees  and  paid  for  with  their  own  money,  contains  one 
million  four  hundred  and  seventy  thousand  one  hundred 


EXPERIENCES  OF  A  SPECIAL   INDIAN    AGENT.       203 

and  ninety-six  acres,  which  is  nine  hundred  and  forty- 
two  acres  for  each  person.  The  United  States  also 
holds  in  trust  for  them  under  treaty  stipulations, 
$8,029,501.29  in  actual  cash,  which  is  also  theirs 
absolutely. 

The  annual  interest  on  this  vast  sum  is  $401,475.06. 
Of  this  interest  $250,000  is  paid  to  them  in  quarterly 
payments  of  $40  per  capita,  that  being  as  much  as  the 
Government  considers  that  they  need.  The  residue 
above  $250,000,  with  the  exception  of  a  few  thousand 
dollars  used  to  defray  the  expenses  of  the  Agency  and 
the  Reservation  scho'ols,  accumulates  in  the  United 
States  treasury.  This  accumulated  interest  now  amounts 
to  more  than  a  million  dollars.  But  the  Government 
pays  no  interest  on  it,  and  it  is  subject  to  distribution  to 
the  tribe  at  any  time  in  the  discretion  of  the  Department. 

Thus  we  see  that  the  per  capita  share  of  each  Indian 
in  the  common  property  of  the  tribe  is  nine  hundred 
and  forty-two  acres  of  land  and  $5,787.14  in  money. 
This  gives  to  each  family  of  five  persons,  and  that  is 
the  average  Indian  family,  four  thousand  seven  hundred 
and  ten  acres,  or  upwards  of  seven  square  miles  of  land, 
and  $28,935.70  in  money.  No  civilized  people  on  the 
globe  have  so  large  a  per  capita  of  either  land  or  money, 
and  no  other  tribe  of  Indians  have  as  much  money, 
though  a  few  of  them  have  more  land. 


204         SERVICE  ON  THE  INDIAN  RESERVATIONS. 

It  may  be  said  that  the  Osages  own  this  land  and 
money  in  common,  and  that  individually  they  own  not 
an  acre  of  the  one  nor  a  dollar  of  the  other.  In  the 
abstract  that  is  true.  But  each  individual  is  allowed  to 
take  and  occupy  all  the  land  he  can  make  use  of,  and 
each  member  of  the  tribe  draws  an  individual  income 
from  the  money.  As  before  stated,  a  part  of  the  interest 
is  paid  to  them  every  three  months,  the  per  capita  of 
these  quarterly  payments  being  $40,  or  $160  per 
annum,  the  annual  income  of  a  family  of  five  being 
$800,  with  a  surplus  accumulating  in  the  treasury 
besides. 

This  is  far  better,  of  course,  than  if  each  individual 
or  head  of  a  family  had  possession  or  control  of  his 
particular  share,  for  in  that  case  the  riches  of  many, 
like  those  of  many  white  people,  would  soon  take  wings 
and  fly  away  never  to  return. 

And,  in  addition  to  this  common  property,  many  of 
the  Osages  are  wealthy  in  their  individual  rights,  in 
horses,  cattle,  improved  farms,  and  other  property. 

The  Kaw  Indians  are  also  under  the  jurisdiction  of 
the  Agent  at  Osage.  They  are  very  poor  in  their  indi 
vidual  rights,  but  in  common  property  they  also  are 
rich.  There  are  only  one  hundred  and  ninety-six  of 
them,  and  their  Reservation  contains  one  hundred 
thousand  one  hundred  and  thirty-seven  acres,  which  is 


206         SERVICE  ON  THE  INDIAN  RESERVATIONS, 

five  hundred  and  ten  acres  per  capita,  or  two  thousand 
five  hundred  and  fifty  acres,  or  four  square  miles,  for 
each  family  of  five  persons.  They  also  have  $200,000 
in  the  United  States  treasury,  though  a  portion  of  the 
interest  on  that  fund  is  used  to  defray  the  expenses  of 
their  Reservation  school  and  Sub-Agency. 

Both  of  these  tribes  live  upon  their  own  resources, 
the  Government  making  no  issues  of  rations  or  clothing 
to  either  of  them.  Most  of  them  wear  blankets,  paint 
and  feathers,  and  live  in  tents,  but  they  are  among  the 
most  tractable  and  easily  governed  Indians  in  the  United 
States. 

The  Kaws  still  cling  to  their  ancient  tribal  organiza 
tion,  but  the  Osages  have  a  code  of  written  laws,  a 
legislative  council  and  courts,  and  elect  their  chief, 
assistant  chiet,  councilmen,  judges,  sheriffs,  clerks  and 
treasurers  every  two  years  by  vote  of  all  the  male  mem 
bers  of  the  tribe  over  the  age  of  twenty-one  years. 

Black  Dog,  a  stalwart  and  sagacious  Indian,  the  son 
of  an  old-time  chief,  had  been  chief  during  the  preceding 
term,  but  at  the  election  held  a  few  months  previous  to 
my  arrival  he  was  defeated  by  an  old  fellow  named 
Neckakapauna. 

Notwithstanding  Black  Dog's  defeat  for  the  office  of 
chief,  he  was  still  the  acknowledged  leader  of  the  Big 
Hills,  a  large  band  of  full-bloods  living  on  the  Arkansas 
River  some  thirty  miles  from  the  Agency, 


EXPERIENCES  OF  A  SPECIAL    INDIAN    AGENT.       207 

Neckakapauna  was  not  only  a  plebeian,  but  his 
political  opponents  charged  in  the  canvass  for  chief  that 
he  had  no  ancestry  to  speak  of — that  he  was  in  fact  a 
"scrub."  Of  course  his  partisans  denounced  that  as  a 
campaign  lie,  and  it  may  have  been.  They  not  only 
admitted,  but  in  their  excess  of  democracy  they  were 
rather  inclined  to  boast,  that  his  parents  were  poor; 
but  those  who  required  proof  that  they  were  also 
respectable  were  left  very  much  in  doubt.  But  under 
their  republican  form  of  government  the  old  commoner 
arose  to  the  surface,  triumphed  over  the  royal  house  of 
Black  Dog,  and  became  chief  of  the  tribe.  He  was  a 
good  Indian,  however,  and  made  a  very  good  chief, 
his  greatest  disqualification  for  the  position  probably 
being  his  nonprogressiveness. 

Osage  Agency  is  a  considerable  village.  In  addition 
to  the  various  Agency  buildings,  four  large  traders' 
stores  are  located  there.  Dwellings  are  furnished  by 
the  Government  for  all  of  the  Agency  employes  who 
have  families,  and  all  of  the  traders  and  several  of  their 
clerks  have  comfortable  private  dwellings  and  keep  their 
families  there.  A  number  of  well-to-do  half-breeds 
also  live  in  the  village. 

I  had  no  fault  to  find  with  any  of  the  employes,  ex 
cept  the  two  clerks.  They  were  both  notoriously 
incompetent  and  untrustworthy.  I  immediately  re- 


208         SERVICE  ON  THE  INDIAN  RESERVATIONS. 

quested  the  Department  to  send  me  two  capable  clerks 
in  their  places.  Mr.  James  L.  Gibson  was  promptly 
sent  in  the  place  of  the  assistant  clerk,  and  I  was  well 
pleased  with  him.  He  was  well  qualified,  and  an  hon 
est,  intelligent,  well-bred  young  gentleman. 

Mr.  W.  D.  Wisdom,  another  young  gentleman  of 
high  character  and  superior  qualifications,  was  sent  to  me 
for  a  month,  to  help  me  get  the  affairs  of  the  Agency 
out  of  the  chaotic  state  in  which  I  found  them.  But 
the  Department  probably  considered  that  reform  enough 
for  one  Agency,  for  at  the  end  of  the  month  Mr.  Wis 
dom  was  ordered  to  Ponca  Agency,  and  I  was  required 
to  keep  the  little  sawed-off  chief  clerk.  It  was  evident 
to  my  mind  that  his  relatives  had  procured  this  import 
ant  place  for  him  as  an  asylum  from  rum,  and  also 
because  he  was  utterly  worthless,  incapable  of  making 
a  living,  and  a  source  of  social  embarrassment  at  home. 
Having  what  the  politicians  and  intriguers  call  a  "pull" 
in  Washington,  they  had  probably  procured  his  ap 
pointment,  and  held  him  in  the  place  in  spite  of  the 
protests  of  fast  succeeding  failing  Agents,  upon  repre 
sentations  made  like  the  darky  recommended  the 
'possum  dog: 

"I  ain'  neber  seed  dat  daug  tree  no  'possums,"  he 
said,  "but  den  I  know  he  boun*  ter  be  a  good  'possum 
daug,  'cause  he  ain'  no  'count  fur  nuthin'  else." 


EXPERIENCES  OF  A  SPECIAL   INDIAN   AGENT.      209 

This  clerk's  salary  was  $1,200,  but  he  was  so  hope 
lessly  and  stupidly  incompetent  that  I  and  the  assistant 
clerk,  whose  salary  was  only  $1,000,  had  to  do  his 
work  ourselves.  I  told  him  one  day  to  write  a  letter 
transmitting  a  certain  document  to  the  Department. 
He  bounced  around  as  if  he  would  dash  it  off  in  a 
second,  bent  over  his  desk  and  scribbled  a  minute  or 
two,  picked  up  a  copy  of  the  Department  Regulations 
and  searched  through  it  in  an  exceedingly  fidgety  man 
ner  a  few  minutes,  bent  over  his  desk  and  scribbled 
some  more,  and  finally  brought  me  a  scrawl  which 
started  off  as  follows : 

"The  Honored  Commisionder  of  Indian  A  fairs, 
Washington,  D.  C, 

DEAR  SIRS  : 

Enclose  herewith  I  handed  you — " 

1  complimented  him  on  that,  of  course,  and  told  him 
that  if  he  wanted  to  finish  a  day's  work  to  get  a  blank 
and  fill  out  a  requisition  on  the  "Honored  Commis 
ionder"  for  a  "Blue  Backed  Speller"  and  a  "Practical 
Letter  Writer"  for  the  use  of  the  chief  clerk,  and  I 
would  sign  it  in  capital  letters.  He  laughed  a  little 
and  said  he  "did  not  need  them  things,  but  he  would 
like  to  have  an  adding  machine  and  a  lightning  calcu 
lator,  as  he  was  not  very  good  in  figures." 

At  that  time  the   Department  appointed   all  of  the 


210         SERVICE  ON  THE  INDIAN  RESERVATIONS. 

Agency  clerks,  and  prohibited  the  Agents  from  select 
ing  them,  under  the  alleged  doctrine  that  they  might 
choose  persons  with  whom  they  could  collude  to  perpe 
trate  fraud.  As  all  sensible  men  may  imagine,  the 
result  was  that  nearly  every  politician  with  a  "pull" 
was  enabled  to  "unload"  "a  lame  duck"  on  some 
helpless  Agent,  often  to  his  ruin,  and  always  to  the 
injury  and  discredit  cf  the  service. 

Dr.  J.  E.  Dodson,  of  Texas,  was  physician;  Perry 
Primm,  of  Tennessee,  general  mechanic,  and  Andres 
Nelson,  of  Iowa,  superintendent  of  stock.  They  were 
well  suited  to  their  respective  places,  and  performed 
their  duties  faithfully  and  intelligently  throughout  my 
term. 

Mr.  Charles  Fagan,  of  Indiana,  was  superintendent 
of  the  Reservation  school,  and  his  wife,  Mrs.  Nettie 
Fagan,  Miss  Mamie  McCarthy,  of  Washington,  D.  C., 
and  Miss  Kate  Miller,  of  Illinois,  teachers.  Mr.  Fagan 
was  a  very  capable  and  successful  superintendent,  and 
the  teachers  were  well  qualified  for  their  places. 

Mr.  J.  C.  Keenan,  of  Indiana,  was  Sub-Agent  and 
superintendent  of  the  school  at  Kaw.  He  was  an 
excellent  man  for  the  place,  and  managed  the  affairs  of 
that  interesting  little  Agency  so  carefully  and  well  that 
they  gave  me  no  trouble  whatever. 

My  predecessor  was  the  Agent  who  had  suffered  the 


EXPERIENCES  OF  A  SPECIAL   INDIAN   AGENT.      211 

Indians  to  camp  around  his  house,  to  make  a  good 
impression  on  them,  as  described  in  a  previous  chapter; 
having  proved  entirely  too  weak  for  the  place,  as  I  had 
feared  he  would.  His  predecessor  had  also  failed 
through  incompetency,  and,  as  the  reader  may  imagine, 
everything  was  badly  demoralized.  The  Reservation 
had  become  a  green  pasture  for  whisky  peddlers,  gam 
blers  and  horse  thieves,  an  asylum  for  fugitives  from 
justice,  and  a  Garden  of  Eden  for  loafers.  These 
classes  were  almost  as  numerous  as  the  Indians,  and 
while  the  latter  were  not  the  least  inclined  to  turbulency 
and  insubordination,  they  were  fast  being  demoralized 
and  corrupted  to  absolute  worthlessness  and  depravity. 

The  Indian  police  had  become  so  badly  demoralized 
that  they  could  not  be  depended  on  for  anything.  Two 
days  before  I  was  placed  in  charge,  the  Agent  sent  ten 
of  them  out  to  arrest  two  whisky  peddlers.  But  instead 
of  submitting  to  arrest,  the  peddlers  obtained  a  parley 
with  the  police,  made  the  entire  squad  dead  drunk, 
disarmed  them  and  stampeded  their  ponies. 

I  reorganized  the  force  from  the  best  material  in  the 
tribe,  but  having  no  confidence  even  in  them  for  the 
work  then  in  hand,  and  being  determined  to  rid  the 
Reservation  of  all  lawless  characters,  I  reported  the 
situation  to  the  Department,  and  asked  for  a  troop  of 
cavalry. 


212         SERVICE  ON  THE  INDIAN  RESERVATIONS. 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

A  NOTABLE  AND  ROMANTIC  INDIAN  WEDDING — TWO 
HANDSOME  YOUNG  SQUAWS  AT  ONCE — THE  PECULIAR 
POLYGAMOUS  CUSTOM  OF  THE  OSAGES — DANCING 
AND  HORSE  RACING — HOW  THEY  MAKE  THEIR  BETS. 

T3LACK  DOG  and  his  entire  band  of  Big  Hill 
^~^  Indians  were  encamped  on  the  west  side  of  Bird 
Creek,  about  a  mite  from  the  Agency.  They  just 
seemed  to  be  out  for  a  frolic,  and  were  trading  at  the 
stores,  feasting,  dancing,  horse  racing,  and  having  what 
they  considered  a  good  time  generally. 

Strike  Axe's  band  was  encamped  near  the  race  track, 
which  was  situated  a  mile  north  of  the  Agency.  About 
9  o'clock  every  morning  Black  Dog  and  his  band 
would  come  by  on  their  way  to  the  races.  All  the 
"race  horse  men"  and  many  others  being  on  horse 
back,  and  all  the  women,  children  and  old  men  being 
in  covered  hacks,  wagons  and  buggies,  they  constituted 
an  irregular  but  exceedingly  picturesque  procession. 

Many  of  their  race  horses  are  of  American  blood, 


EXPERIENCES  OF  A  SPECIAL   INDIAN   AGENT.       213 

and  really  very  fine  animals.  I  remember  one  in  par 
ticular,  owned  by  Chief  Strike  Axe,  that  would  have 
been  considered  a  fine  horse  in  any  country. 

They  had  an  old-fashioned  straight  track  on  a  level 
prairie,  and  their  stakes  were  sometimes  quite  large. 
Like  all  other  Indians  they  are  fond  of  bunch  races,  and 
often  fifteen  and  twenty  came  through  under  whip  at 
once. 

They  have  no  judge  at  the  starting  point.  The 
starter  starts  them  as  near  even  as  possible,  and  the 
foremost  one  at  the  outcome  is  the  winner  and  takes  all 
the  stakes.  Two  old  "coffee  coolers"  sitting  in  the 
grass  at  the  end  of  the  track  decide  that  question. 

Their  stakes  are  made  up  in  very  simple  manner. 
Sometimes  the  stakeholder  spreads  a  blanket  on  the 
grass,  and  calls  for  bets.  The  bettors  deposit  the  stakes 
on  the  blanket,  and  name  their  horses.  The  stakes 
consist  of  silver  coin  and  paper  currency,  pistols, 
Winchester  rifles,  belts,  cartridges,  blankets,  shawls, 
moccasins,  wampum,  tobacco  pouches,  Sioux  pipes, 
cigarettes,  smoking  tobacco,  saddles,  bridles,  picket 
ropes,  bands  of  sleigh  bells,  and  various  other  articles 
of  Indian  property.  Often,  too,  the  stakeholder  is  seen 
holding  the  ropes  of  a  considerable  bunch  of  ponies, 
and  now  and  then  a  hack  or  buggy  may  be  seen  drawn 
up  near  him. 


214          SERVICE  ON  THE  INDIAN  RESERVATIONS. 

At  other  times  the  stakeholder  takes  a  light  pole  on 
his  shoulder  and  goes  through  the  camp  calling  for 
bets.  The  bettors  hang  their  various  stakes  on  the 
pole,  and  I  have  often  seen  it  loaded  until  it  took  two 
to  carry  it. 

The  bettors  on  the  winning  horse  take  all  the  stakes, 
but  how  they  divide  them  between  themselves  I  never 
could  understand.  They  have  some  way  of  doing  it, 
however,  which  is  well  understood  and  entirely  satis 
factory,  for  I  never  heard  of  a  quarrel  growing  out  of  a 
race  during  my  stay  at  the  Agency. 

Early  in  May  the  most  notable  wedding  ever  known 
among  the  Osages  occurred  at  an  encampment  a  mile 
and  a  half  north  of  the  Agency. 

I  had  heard  of  elaborate  preparations  being  made  for 
this  wedding  ever  since  my  arrival,  and  one  day  in  the 
latter  part  of  April  Neckakapauna,  Strike  Axe,  and 
perhaps  a  dozen  other  head  men,  called  on  me  at  the 
office  and  invited  me  to  attend  it.  Strike  Axe  had 
become  a  great  friend  of  my  wife,  who  was  with  me  at 
that  place,  and  he  exacted  a  promise  from  me  that  I 
would  take  her  also.  He  said  he  had  always  under 
stood  that  "white  squaws,"  like  their  Indian  sisters, 
were  fond  of  weddings,  and  as  this  was  to  be  the 
grandest  event  of  the  kind  in  the  history  of  the  tribe, 
he  wanted  my  "squaw"  to  see  it, 


EXPERIENCES  OF  A  SPECIAL   INDIAN    AGENT.       215 

Of  course  the  whites  expected  that  it  would  be  an 
exceedingly  novel  wedding  in  all  respects,  but  the  thing 
most  remarkable  and  interesting  to  them  was  that  the 
groom  was  to  marry  two  squaws  at  once.  Although 
authorized  by  an  old  custom,  such  weddings  are  not 
frequent  in  the  tribe,  and  the  circumstances  with  which 
the  Indians  themselves  were  most  delighted  on  this 
occasion  were  the  great  and  unusual  formalities  of  the 
ceremonies,  and  the  gorgeousness  and  prodigality  of 
the  feast  and  celebration. 

At  2  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  of  the  designated  day, 
I  drove  out  in  a  buggy  with  my  wife  to  Strike  Axe's 
camp.  Two  small  creeks  come  together  in  the  form  of 
a  V.  Strike  Axe's  band,  which  for  this  occasion  was 
swelled  to  the  number  of  four  hundred,  was  encamped 
on  one  of  these  creeks,  and  Neckakapauna,  with  a  band 
of  six  hundred,  was  encamped  on  the  other,  the  two 
encampments  being  about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  apart, 
with  a  beautiful  valley,  perfectly  level  and  covered  with 
luxuriant  grass,  extending  entirely  across  from  one  to 
the  other. 

The  father  of  the  brides  was  a  sub-chief  or  head  man 
in  Strike  Axe's  band,  and  the  father  of  the  groom  was 
one  of  Neckakapauna's  under  chiefs.  The  large  tents 
occupied  by  the  families  of  Strike  Axe  and  the  father 
of  the  brides  faced  each  other,  and  were  situated  in  the 
center  of  the  encampment. 


216         SERVICE  ON  THE  INDIAN  RESERVATIONS. 

For  this  occasion  Strike  Axe  had  induced  me  to  loan 
him  a  large  United  States  flag  that  belonged  to  the 
Agency,  and  the  first  thing  to  arrest  our  attention  was 
this  flag  floating  bottom  edge  up  from  the  top  of  a 
wonderfully  crooked,  unpeeled  hackberry  pole  about 
twenty  feet  high,  propped  up  in  the  small  space  between 
his  tent  and  that  of  the  father  of  the  brides. 

All  the  tents  were  crowded  very  close  together,  but 
Strike  Axe  made  way  for  us  to  drive  up  near  this  flag 
pole.  Here  we  noticed  a  squaw  holding  two  beautiful 
ponies  that  looked  exactly  alike.  On  their  backs  were 
great,  soft,  flat-topped  pads,  made  of  beautiful,  high- 
priced  blankets,  and  almost  all  the  rest  of  their  bodies 
were  covered  with  beaded  trappings,  ribbons  and  sleigh 
bells. 

In  a  few  minutes  squaws  came  and  rolled  up  the  front 
wall  of  the  tent  occupied  by  the  girls.  They  were 
seated  on  a  great  carpet  of  buffalo  robes  and  beautiful 
blankets  of  various  colors  and  sizes.  My  wife  and  I 
both  recognized  them  as  two  girls  who  had  been  at  our 
house  two  or  three  times,  and  whom  we  had  spoken  of 
as  making  the  nearest  approach  to  real  beauty  of  any 
full-bloods  we  had  ever  seen.  They  now  looked  really 
pretty,  their  costumes  being  by  far  the  most  beautiful 
of  the  kind  that  I  have  ever  seen.  They  seemed  to  be 
about  eighteen  years  old. 


EXPERIENCES  OF  A  SPECIAL   INDIAN    AGENT.       217 

At  a  command  from  Strike  Axe  the  girls  both  arose 
and  came  out  to  the  ponies,  each  led  by  a  handmaid. 
The  squaw  holding  the  ponies  handed  the  handmaids  a 
freshly  peeled  pole  about  the  length  and  size  of  a  hand 
spike.  The  handmaids  holding  this  pole  within  six 
inches  of  the  ground  by  the  side  of  one  of  the  ponies, 
one  of  the  girls  stepped  up  on  it,  steadying  herself  by 
holding  to  the  pad  on  the  pony's  back.  The  hand 
maids  then  carefully  raising  the  pole  close  up  by  the 
pony's  side,  the  girl  seated  herself  on  the  pad,  sidewise; 
the  entire  feat  being  accomplished  with  consummate 
ease,  grace  and  modesty.  Turning  then  to  the  other 
girl,  the  handmaids  assisted  her  to  mount  in  the  same 
way. 

Everything  now  being  ready,  Strike  Axe  directed  a 
stalwart  young  Indian  to  take  the  flag  and  head  the 
procession  to  Neckakapauna's  camp.  Strike  Axe  and 
the  father  of  the  brides  fell  in  immediately  behind  him, 
and  then  came  the  handmaids  leading  the  two  ponies 
side  by  side.  They  were  followed  by  the  mother  and 
other  relatives,  and  then  came  the  entire  band,  regard 
less  alike  of  order  and  precedence. 

Just  as  the  head  of  the  procession  cleared  the  camp, 
Strike  Axe  fired  a  pistol  as  a  signal  to  Neckakapauna, 
and  instantly  we  saw  a  large  crowd  start  to  meet  us. 
There  was  no  road,  and  the  procession  moved  in  a  slow 


218         SERVICE  ON  THE  INDIAN  RESERVATIONS. 

walk  right  through  the  grass.  Pulling  out  some  twenty 
steps  to  one  side,  I  drove  along  about  even  with  Strike 
Axe. 

When  the  other  crowd  came  out  from  their  camp  we 
saw  that  some  of  them  were  mounted  and  driving  a 
bunch  of  ponies.  We  also  noticed  eight  squaws  running 
ahead  with  two  large  blankets  in  their  hands.  They 
were  all  coming  much  faster  than  we  were  traveling. 
But  that  was  proper.  They  were  coming  to  meet  the 
brides,  and  custom  and  gallantry  alike  required  them  to 
come  with  spirit  and  gladness.  To  have  gone  mopingly 
would  have  been  "bad  form" — bad  Osage  form — very 
bad;  whereas  it  was  becoming  to  the  brides  to  advance 
demurely. 

When  the  eight  squaws  met  us,  they  spread  the 
blankets  on  the  grass,  and  then  locking  their  hands 
together,  they  lifted  the  girls  off  of  the  ponies  and  sat 
each  of  them  down  in  the  center  of  a  blanket.  This, 
like  the  mounting,  was  very  skillfully  and  beautifully 
done. 

While  this  was  going  on  the  bridegroom's  father  was 
delivering  the  bunch  of  ponies  to  the  brides'  father. 
There  were  twenty  of  them  and  they  were  in  payment 
for  the  girls.  The  old  man  sending  his  herders  hurry 
ing  back  to  his  camp  with  the  ponies,  the  squaws 
gathered  up  the  blankets  by  the  four  corners  and  started 


EXPERIENCES  OF  A  SPECIAL  INDIAN   AGENT.      219 

on  a  run  with  them  to  the  bridegroom's  tent — it  being 
a  case  of  simultaneous  payment  and  delivery  of  the 
goods. 

The  girls  sat  upright  with  their  feet  drawn  up  under 
them.,  but  of  course  the  blankets  sagged  down,  and  we 
could  just  see  their  heads  as  the  squaws  trotted  along 
through  the  grass  with  them. 

The  bridegroom's  tent  was  also  a  very  large  one,  and 
set  facing  Neckakapauna's,  in  the  first  row  of  tents  on 
the  side  fronting  Strike  Axe's  camp,  the  walls  being 
rolled  up  about  six  feet  high  all  around.  Several  ad 
joining  tents  were  also  stretched  so  as  to  serve  as  awn 
ings,  and  all  were  carpeted  with  buffalo  robes  and 
blankets.  The  bridegroom  being  seated  alone  on  a  great 
mat  of  blankets  in  his  own  tent,  the  squaws  carried  the 
two  girls  in  without  stopping,  and  sat  one  down  on 
each  side  of  him.  They  all  looked  about  as  confused 
and  helpless  as  young  white  people  usually  do  in  the 
act  of  marriage,  and  if  either  of  them  uttered  a  word  we 
failed  to  hear  it. 

The  girls  at  once  took  off  their  jewelry,  hats,  and 
some  of  their  outer  garments,  and,  without  rising,  and 
with  remarkable  grace  and  dexterity,  put  on  others 
which  the  bridegroom,  also  without  rising,  handed  to 
them.  This  was  symbolical  of  their  renunciation  of  all 
dependence  upon  their  father  for  raiment,  and  of  the 


220        SERVICE  ON  THE  INDIAN  RESERVATIONS. 

bridegroom's  vow  to  supply  their  necessities  in  that 
respect. 

Squaws  then  brought  in  a  double-width  of  oilcloth 
about  thirty  feet  long,  and  spread  it  on  the  blankets  and 
robes  immediately  in  front  of  the  brides  and  groom. 
Other  squaws  placed  plates  and  other  dishes  around  the 
edges,  and  brought  in  various  articles  of  cooked  food 
in  large  pans  and  bowls. 

The  brides  and  groom  were  given  just  one  plate,  one 
cup,  and  one  small  dish  of  each  article  of  food.  It  was 
now  nearly  4  o'clock,  and  when  all  was  ready  the  feast 
began,  the  chiefs  of  both  bands,  and  members  of  the 
families  of  the  high  contracting  parties  sitting  down  to 
the  oilcloth,  and  the  rest  of  the  two  bands  dividing  up 
into  small  groups  under  the  various  tents  and  awnings 
throughout  the  camp. 

The  brides  and  groom  ate  from  the  same  dishes,  he 
taking  the  first  mouthful  from  each  dish  and  then  hand 
ing  it  first  to  the  girl  at  his  right  hand  and  then  to  the 
one  at  his  left  hand.  He  took  the  first  sup  of  coffee, 
and  then  handed  the  cup  to  each  of  the  girls  in  turn. 
They  ate  but  little,  but  whatever  it  was  it  constituted  a 
part  of  the  ceremony,  and  when  the  feast  ended  the 
marriage  was  complete. 

It  is  proper  to  say  here  that  the  Government  dis 
countenances  polygamy  among  the  Indians,  and  Agents 


EXPERIENCES  OF  A  SPECIAL   INDIAN   AGENT.      221 

are  instructed  to  break  up  the  practice  wherever  it  can 
be  done  without  results  equally  detrimental  to  the 
Indians,  or  hazardous  to  the  whites,  and  I  would  have 
prevented  this  marriage  if  I  had  been  a  permanent 
Agent.  But  as  polygamy  had  not  been  arbitrarily  pro 
hibited  by  my  predecessors,  and  probably  would  not  be 
by  my  successor,  it  was  obvious  that  it  would  do  more 
harm  than  good  to  interfere  in  this  particular  case. 

The  polygamous  custom  of  the  Osages  is  a  peculiar 
one.  An  Osage  may  marry  two  squaws  at  once,  and 
perhaps  even  more,  or  take  a  plural  wife  or  wives  at 
any  time,  but  if  all  of  the  women  die,  or  desert  him,  or 
he  abandons  them  or  either  of  them,  he  is  never  allowed 
to  marry  again.  That  is  the  penalty  that  the  unwritten 
law  of  the  tribe  lays  upon  him  for  taking  more  than  one 
man's  share  of  the  women  at  once.  If  both  of  these 
girls  had  died  or  deserted  the  young  fellow  in  an  hour 
he  never  would  have  been  permitted  to  marry  again. 
This  law  is  inexorable. 


222        SERVICE  ON  THE  INDIAN  RESERVATIONS. 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

A  PICTURESQUE  COUNTRY  —  WHISKY  PEDDLERS  AND 
OKLAHOMA  BOOMERS  —  A  VISIT  FROM  THE  KAWS  — 
ORIGIN  OF  THE  NAMES  OF  THE  STATES  OF  ARKANSAS 
AND  KANSAS. 


Osage  Reservation  is  a  picturesque  country. 
The  uplands  are  high  and  rolling,  and  the  valleys 
broad  and  fertile.  Building  stone  is  abundant,  and 
there  are  innumerable  streams  fringed  with  timber. 
Many  of  the  streams  are  of  living  water,  and  swarm 
with  fish,  the  bass  being  particularly  numerous.  Dur 
ing  the  spring  I  found  time  to  go  fishing  occasionally, 
though  in  addition  to  the  usual  duties  of  Agent  I  had 
to  devote  a  great  deal  of  time  to  whisky  peddlers  and 
"Oklahoma  boomers." 

*.  And  the  Agent  who  has  to  deal  with  those  two 
classes  of  trespassers  needs  an  unusual  amount  of  recre 
ation.  They  were  both  very  troublesome  on  the  Osage 
Reservation,  but  with  the  aid  of  the  Indians  I  held  my 
hand  with  them  quite  successfully.  It  was  my  rule  at 


EXPERIENCES  OF  A  SPECIAL    INDIAN   AGENT.       223 

all  the  Agencies  I  was  ever  in  charge  of  to  have  the 
Indians  do  the  most  of  that  kind  of  work  themselves. 
My  first  experience  in  that  line  at  Osage  was  quite 
amusing.  The  Indians  wanted  to  have  a  big  dance  and 
feast.  I  withheld  my  consent  until  the  chiefs  promised 
me  that  if  any  whisky  peddlers  came  about  they  would 
arrest  them  and  turn  them  over  to  me. 

About  4  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  of  the  first  day  of 
the  dance  four  head  men  came  galloping  up  to  my  yard 
gate  and  called  to  me  in  broken  English : 

"Whisky  peddlers !  Two!  Indians  ketch  him.  Tie 
him.  You  come  and  see  him,  now.  Neckakapauna 
and  Strike  Axe  say  so." 

Going  with  them,  they  carried  me  through  the  center 
of  the  camp,  which  was  situated  in  a  valley  a  mile  and 
a  half  from  the  Agency,  and  as  I  passed  along  every 
Indian  in  sight  gave  me  an  unusually  friendly  greeting. 

On  the  bank  of  the  little  creek  about  a  quarter  of  a 
mile  above  the  camp,  and  near  the  edge  of  a  dense 
thicket,  we  found  all  the  chiefs  and  head  men  sitting  in 
a  circle  around  the  two  whisky  peddlers,  who  were 
stretched  out  on  their  backs,  and  so  securely  bound  with 
ropes  that  they  could  move  neither  hand  nor  foot. 
There  must  have  been  fifty  feet  of  rope  wound  and  tied 
around  each  of  them,  and  they  could  just  barely  move 
their  heads.  They  were  excellent  specimens  of  their 


224         SERVICE  ON  THE  INDIAN  RESERVATIONS. 

class  —  resolute,  desperate  and  "tough" — and  their 
capture  had  only  served  to  make  them  stubborn  and 
spiteful. 

The  Indians  were  greatly  elated  over  their  achieve 
ment,  and  the  chiefs  and  head  men  took  extreme  delight 
in  showing  me  the  peddlers'  "outfit,"  which  consisted 
of  a  buggy  and  span  of  ponies,  two  Winchester  rifles, 
four  pistols,  and  half  a  bushel  of  cartridges;  two  five- 
gallon  kegs  and  six  one-gallon  jugs,  all  full  of  a  very 
bad  quality  of  whisky,  except  one  of  the  kegs,  from 
which  they  had  been  selling,  and  which  was  only  about 
half  full. 

With  this  "outfit"  they  had  established  themselves 
in  the  thicket  about  noon,  and  immediately  commenced 
a  cautious  but  lively  business.  Six  one-gallon  jugs  had 
gone  for  six  ponies  worth  $40  apiece,  and  half  the  con 
tents  of  one  of  the  kegs  had  been  retailed  out  at  $10 
per  quart. 

All  my  readers  may  not  understand  why  Indians  will 
pay  such  exorbitant  prices.  It  is  because  the  sale  of 
intoxicating  liquor  to  them,  or  the  introduction  of  it 
into  their  country,  is  punishable  under  the  laws  of  the 
United  States  by  heavy  fine  and  imprisonment  in  the 
penitentiary,  for  which  reason  white  men  will  not  take 
the  risk  of  selling  to  them  without  outlaw  profits. 

When  I   asked   these   peddlers   some   questions   con- 


EXPERIENCES  OF  A  SPECIAL   INDIAN   AGENT.       225 

cerning  themselves  they  refused  to  answer,  and  after 
swearing  at  me  for  some  time  with  marvelous  strength 
and  fluency,  asked  me  in  turn  what  I  intended  to  do 
with  them.  That  being  an  opportunity  to  get  "even" 
which  I  could  not  resist,  I  "comforted"  them  with  the 
information  that  I  had  decided  to  let  the  Indians  haul 
them  down  into  Bird  Creek  bottom  and  kill  them. 

I  had  already  told  Neckakapauna  to  send  some  young 
men  with  a  wagon  to  haul  them  to  the  guardhouse, 
my  intention  being  to  hold  them  for  the  U.  S.  Marshal. 
When  the  wagon  came  they  were  hastily  thrown  in, 
and  the  driver  started  back  through  the  camp  at  a 
brisk  trot.  The  road  was  strewn  with  large  cobble 
stones,  and  as  I  fell  in  behind  I  noticed  that  the 
prisoners  were  being  unmercifully  jolted,  bouncing 
sometimes  like  blocks  of  wood  clear  to  the  top  of  the 
wagon  box.  Unheeding  this  cruelty,  and  with  manifest 
enjoyment  of  the  yelling  and  terrible  execrations  of  the 
prisoners,  the  driver  was  plying  his  whip  with  increased, 
rather  than  diminished,  vigor,  and  I  had  to  send  a 
mounted  Indian  at  full-speed  to  make  him  "slow  down." 

As  I  was  passing  through  the  camp  I  came  very  near 
riding  over  an  Indian  who  was  lying  on  the  grass, 
bound  hand  and  foot,  just  like  the  peddlers.  I  called 
the  chiefs  and  asked  what  it  meant.  They  answered: 
"Heap  drunk.  All  time  heap  holler.  Injuns  tie  him, 

(8) 


226         SERVICE  ON  THE  INDIAN  RESERVATIONS. 

too."  Then  they  carried  me  around  to  different  places 
and  showed  me  seven  others  whom  they  had  disposed 
of  in  the  same  way.  It  was  the  intoxication  of  those 
Indians  that  gave  the  chiefs  notice  of  the  presence  of 
the  peddlers. 

But  the  morning  sun  rose  on  an  empty  guardhouse. 
During  the  night  confederates  of  the  prisoners  cut  down 
the  heavy  door  and  liberated  them.  Upon  learning 
that,  I  destroyed  the  whisky  and  confiscated  the  re 
mainder  of  the  "outfit"  to  the  captors. 

Prior  to  this  circumstance  I  had  two  or  three  times 
found  it  necessary  to  lead  the  police  in  person  against 
these  outlaws,  but  afterwards  whenever  I  heard  of 
whisky  peddlers  or  invading  boomers,  all  I  had  to  do 
was  to  let  the  chiefs  know  that  I  wanted  them.  By 
that  means  I  had  pretty  effectually  cleared  the  Reserva 
tion  of  such  characters  before  the  troop  of  cavalry 
arrived. 

Some  of  the  boomer  outfits  of  that  day  were  almost 
as  hard  and  dangerous  to  deal  with  as  the  whisky  ped 
dlers.  Boomers  are  people  who  invade  Indian  country 
and  try  to  take  possession  of  it  before  it  is  opened  by 
law  for  white  settlement.  Many  of  them  have  wagon 
beds  almost  as  large  as  box  cars,  with  roof,  stove  and 
sleeping  berths,  and  actually  live  on  wheels.  They 
generally  go  in  crowds  of  from  two  to  ten  families, 


EXPERIENCES  OF  A  SPECIAL  INDIAN  AGENT.     227 

and  sometimes  have  considerable  herds  of  horses  and 
cattle.  At  that  time  hundreds  of  them  were  trying  to 
invade  the  country  then  known  as  Oklahoma  through 
the  Osage  and  Ponca  Reservations,  which  lay  between 
that  country  and  Kansas.  I  and  Agent  Osborne,  of 
Ponca,  had  orders  to  guard  all  the  roads  on  our  Reser 
vations,  and  turn  these  boomers  back. 

One  morning  while  Osborne  was  at  breakfast  word 
was  brought  to  him  that  a  large  crowd  were  coming 
down  the  road  right  through  his  Agency.  He  rushed 
out  to  his  yard  gate  to  turn  them  back,  as  he  was 
ordered  to  do.  As  they  came  up  he  asked  one  of  them 
where  they  were  going.  The  boomer  jerked  a  double- 
barreled  shot  gun  out  of  a  wagon,  cocked  both  barrels 
in  Osborne's  face,  gritted  his  teeth,  and  exclaimed: 

' '  Oak-lay-homey! // ///     Oak-lay-homey!!!! ' ' 

Osborne  had  the  reputation  of  being  the  bravest 
Agent  and  the  greatest  wag  in  the  service.  At  this 
instant  his  sense  of  the  ridiculous  overcame  him.  Bow 
ing  with  excessive  politeness  to  the  boomer,  he  said  in 
a  half-comical,  half-confidential  tone: 

"My  dear  friend,  that  is  a  magnificent  country  down 
there,  and  I  am  one  of  its  authorized  immigration 
agents.  This  is  a  direct  road  to  it.  Drive  right  ahead, 
and  if  anybody  attempts  to  stop  you,  just  send  for  me!" 

The  next  day  he  overtook  them  with  a  band  of  In- 


228         SERVICE  ON  THE  INDIAN  RESERVATIONS. 

dians  and  brought  them  all  back — he  and  the  shot  gun 
man,  whose  name  also  happened  to  be  Osborne,  claim 
ing,  in  the  most  ridiculous  mock  affection,  to  be 
"cousins." 

One  day  at  Osage  I  had  to  call  out  the  entire  police 
force  and  several  volunteer  Indians  to  turn  back  a  party 
composed  of  nine  men  and  seven  women.  The  women 
had  guns  in  their  hands  and  for  a  time  looked  even 
more  desperate  and  dangerous  than  the  men;  but, 
women  like,  they  weakened  and  called  for  quarter  when 
they  saw  their  "men  folks"  in  danger. 

About  the  first  of  June  Mr.  Keenan  reported  that  the 
Kaws  had  their  crops  nicely  "laid  by" — finished — and 
wanted  permission  to  visit  the  Osages.  I  granted  their 
request,  and  when  they  arrived  all  the  chiefs  and  head 
men  called  on  me  at  the  office  to  thank  me,  and  to  say 
that  they  would  stay  seven  days. 

There  is  a  Government  ice  house  at  Osage,  and  in 
the  winter  the  Agency  and  school  employes  combine 
and  fill  it  with  ice  for  their  own  use  during  the  summer. 

Four  days  after  the  arrival  of  the  Kaws  the  chiefs 
and  head  men  returned  to  the  office  looking  so  sad  and 
dejected  that  I  was  afraid  they  had  met  with  some  great 
calamity.  They  said  they  were  very  much  troubled, 
and  wanted  to  talk  with  me.  I  told  them  that  it  grieved 
me  to  see  them  in  distress,  and  that  if  I  could  do  any- 


EXPERIENCES  OF  A  SPECIAL   INDIAN   AGENT.       229 

thing  to  make  them  happy  it  would  give  me  happiness 
to  do  it. 

That  cheered  them  up  wonderfully,  and  Washunga, 
the  principal  chief,  said  I  was  a  good  Agent,  just  like 
Major  Laban  J.  Miles,  who  had  been  their  Agent  for 
several  years,  and  that  as  the  favor  they  had  come 
to  ask  of  me  was  easily  within  my  power,  they  had  felt 
sure  from  the  start  that  I  would  grant  it,  just  as  they 
knew  Major  Miles  would  do  if  he  were  Agent.  Of 
course  that  touched  my  vanity  a  little,  as  it  was  ingen 
iously  intended  to  do,  and  with  another  assurance  of 
my  kindly  disposition  towards  them,  I  told  Washunga 
to  make  their  wishes  known  without  further  ado. 
Rising  and  drawing  his  sheet  closely  around  him,  he 
shook  hands  with  me  and  proceeded  in  the  most  formal 
and  ceremonious  manner  as  follows : 

"Washunga's  people  have  all  worked  very  hard  this 
year,  and  are  very  tired.  They  have  made  no  visit  to 
any  of  their  friends,  and  have  had  no  play.  They  have 
good  crops.  They  have  worked  them  well  and  laid 
them  by.  Washunga's  people  are  not  lazy.  Mr, 
Keenan  says  they  have  done  well.  Four  sleeps  ago  we 
came  here  to  visit  our  friends,  the  Osages.  They  are 
rich  and  have  plenty  to  eat,  and  many  presents  to  give 
us.  We  have  been  feasting  and  dancing  and  having  a 
happy  time.  We  want  to  stay  and  dance  three  days 


230         SERVICE  ON  THE  INDIAN  RESERVATIONS. 

longer.  But  last  night  my  friend's  pappoose  died — 
squaw  pappoose,  six  snows  old.  My  friend  is  a  good 
man.  This  is  him  here — pointing  to  a  head  man  at  his 
side.  He  does  not  want  to  bury  his  pappoose  here  in 
the  Osage  country.  He  wants  to  take  it  back  and  bury 
it  in  our  own  country.  But  the  weather  is  very  warm, 
and  he  cannot  keep  his  pappoose  three  days  in  the 
camp.  It  would  keep  that  long  in  your  ice  house,  and 
he  wants  to  put  it  in  there  until  he  dances  three  more 
days,  and  then  he  will  take  it  home  and  bury  it!  That 
is  what  we  have  come  to  ask  our  good,  kind  Agent  to 
let  him  do!" 

Instead  of  recovering  from  the  immediate  shock  of 
this  gruesome  request,  it  grew  on  me  until  finally  I  had 
to  forego  the  use  of  ice  water  entirely  for  nearly  two 
years.  For  a  long  time  I  could  not  take  a  drink  of  it 
without  seeing  Washunga  and  his  friend  and  the  dead 
pappoose  at  the  bottom  of  the  glass. 

Of  course  I  made  the  Indian  take  his  pappoose  home 
and  bury  it  that  day,  and  gave  him  the  best  lecture  I 
could  on  the  better  instincts  of  humanity,  but  I  had  not 
the  heart  to  speak  harshly  to  him.  He  moved  me  to 
pity  and  not  to  anger.  I  could  not  forget  that  he  was 
only  a  benighted  savage,  really  well  disposed,  and 
utterly  incapable  of  realizing  the  brutality  of  his  conduct. 

It  was  from  this  tribe  that  the  State  of  Kansas  derived 


EXPERIENCES  OF  A  SPECIAL   INDIAN   AGENT.       231 

its  name.  It  was  originally  spelled,  and  the  Indians 
themselves  still  pronounce  it,  Konza.  Catlin,  who 
visited  the  tribe  in  1830,  and  who  is  universally  recog 
nized  authority  on  Indian  nomenclature,  spelled  it  that 
way,  both  in  his  book  and  on  his  maps.  Kaw  and 
Kansas  are  both  corruptions  of  the  name,  and  the  latter, 
I  think,  an  extremely  harsh  one.  And  worst  of  all,  to 
sound  the  terminal  s  is  to  make  it  the  plural  of  the 
name.  Catlin  spells  it,  singular,  Konza;  plural,  Konzas. 

This  name  also  forms  a  part  of  the  name  of  the  State 
of  Arkansas,  which  is  correctly  pronounced  as  if  spelled 
Arkansaw,  the  terminal  letter  s  being  silent.  The  early 
French  explorers  called  the  Arkansas  River  the  River 
of  the  Arc,  on  account  of  the  arc  which  it  describes  in 
its  sweep  from  its  source  to  its  mouth.  The  lower  part 
of  the  Great  Smoky  Hill  River  was  known  in  that 
region  as  the  River  of  the  Konzas,  and  the  early  settlers 
on  the  Lower  Arkansas  got  the  two  rivers  confused. 
They  thought  the  Great  Smoky  Hill  was  known  by 
that  name  all  the  way  to  its  mouth,  and  that  the  Upper 
Arkansas  was  the  River  of  the  Konzas.  This  was  a 
natural  mistake  in  that  day  of  limited  geographical 
knowledge,  because  the  two  rivers  at  one  point  in  Kan 
sas  approach  very  near  to  each  other,  and  the  Konzas 
roamed  the  valleys  of  both  alike. 

So  in  the  course  of  time,  either  by  design  or  formula- 


232         SERVICE  ON  THE  INDIAN  RESERVATIONS. 

tive  process  of  pronunciation,  the  two  names  of  what 
was  supposed  to  be  the  same  river — Arc  and  Konza — 
were  blended  into  the  one  beautiful  name — Arkansas — 
the  Kansas  orthography  of  the  latter  in  the  plural  num 
ber,  and  the  soft,  Indian  pronunciation  of  it  in  the 
singular  number,  being  adopted.  Indeed,  when  you 
hyphenate  these  two  names,  Arc-Konza,  or  pronounce 
them  together,  Arc  and  Konza,  you  perceive  that  they 
blend  themselves. 


EXPERIENCES  OF  A  SPECIAL   INDIAN   AGENT.       233 


CHAPTER  XXVI 

RELIEVED  AT  OSAGE — INSPECTION  OF  VARIOUS  AGEN 
CIES — PLACED  IN  CHARGE  OF  THE  KIOWA,  COMANCHE 
AND  WICHITA  AGENCY. 

A  BOUT  the  first  of  June  Captain  Carroll  H.  Potter, 
•**-*•  of  the  Army,  who  had  been  detailed  to  relieve 
me  of  the  charge  of  Osage  Agency,  arrived  there  for 
that  purpose.  The  next  day  Captain  A.  E.  Woodson 
came  in  from  Fort  Reno  with  his  troop  of  cavalry,  in 
compliance  with  the  request  that  I  had  made  for  troops 
on  taking  charge  of  the  Agency  in  March.  A  few  days 
later  the  wives  of  those  officers  also  arrived,  and  during 
the  month  of  June  they  and  my  family  experienced  the 
discomforts  and  privations  of  the  place  in  the  same 
house. 

Transferring  the  Agency  to  Captain  Potter  on  the 
first  of  July,  I  first  carried  my  family  home,  and  then 
immediately  departed  on  a  tour  of  inspection,  which 
included  the  Ponca,  Pawnee,  Otoe  and  Oakland,  the 
Sac  and  Fox,  the  Cheyenne  and  Arapahoe,  and  the 
Kiowa,  Comanche  and  Wichita  Agencies. 


EXPERIENCES  OF  A  SPECIAL   INDIAN   AGENT.       235 

The  first  four  of  these  Agencies  are  situated  in  a 
group  on  the  south  side  of  the  Arkansas  River,  and 
immediately  west  of  the  Osage  Reservation.  The  three 
latter  are  Sub-Agencies  of  Ponca,  whose  Agent  at  that 
time  was  Major  E.  C.  Osborne,  of  Tennessee. 

Major  Osborne  was  a  good  Agent,  and  having  two 
of  the  very  best  clerks  in  the  service,  Mr.  W.  D.  Wis 
dom,  who  had  been  with  me  a  month  at  Osage,  and 
Mr.  H.  L.  Douglass,  of  Nashville,  Tennessee,  of  course 
all  the  affairs  of  his  Agency  were  in  excellent  order. 
Major  Osborne  was  especially  proud  of  the  Tonkawas — 
the  Indians  of  the  Oakland  Agency — and  the  Pawnees; 
and  he  certainly  had  cause  to  be,  for  at  that  time  both 
tribes  were  showing  encouraging  signs  of  improvement, 
especially  in  practical  farming.  Mr.  M.  L.  McKenzie 
as  clerk  was  in  immediate  charge  of  Pawnee  Agency, 
and  doubtless  was  entitled  to  much  of  the  credit  for  the 
progress  of  that  tribe. 

The  Tonkawas  used  to  be  cannibals,  and  at  one  time 
the  tribe  was  large  and  powerful.  But  their  numbers 
had  been  greatly  decimated  in  wars  with  other  tribes, 
and  finally,  in  1862,  the  Comanches  suddenly  fell  upon 
them  one  day  and  massacred  them  all,  except  one  small 
band  which  happened  to  be  absent  on  a  buffalo  hunt. 
The  survivors  now  number  but  sixty-eight  persons. 

I  was  occupied   ten  days   in  the   inspection  of  those 


236         SERVICE  ON  THE  INDIAN  RESERVATIONS. 

Agencies,  and  then  proceeded  from  Pawnee  to  Sac  and 
Fox,  where  I  had  an  extremely  mean  and  troublesome 
Chicago  drummer  to  deal  with.  He  had  abandoned  his 
wife  and  children  at  Glens  Falls,  New  York,  and  taken 
up  with  a  half-breed  widow  of  advanced  age,  who  was 
the  owner  of  property,  and  entitled  to  tribal  rights, 
which  I  think  he  coveted  more  than  he  did  her.  The 
Agent  promptly  expelled  him  from  the  Reservation, 
but  being  a  talented  penman,  he  immediately  opened 
up  an  amazingly  voluminous  and  breezy  correspondence 
with  the  Department.  As  a  letter  writer  the  Agent 
was  no  match  for  him  at  all.  In  fact  in  that  line,  as  in 
various  others,  he  was  really  an  "artist"  of  astonishing 
ability.  Notwithstanding  he  was  a  flagrant  intruder, 
a  fomenter  of  disturbance  and  discord  among  both 
whites  and  Indians,  and  altogether  undeserving  of  any 
official  indulgence,  he  soon  argued,  bluffed  or  hoodooed 
the  Department  into  issuing  a  peremptory  order  to  the 
Agent  to  allow  him  to  return  to  the  widow's  until  a 
Special  Agent  could  get  around  there  to  investigate  the 
case;  and  when  I  arrived  he  was  just  about  to  take 
possession  of  the  Agency  and  expel  the  Agent.  Of 
course  my  report  was  adverse  to  him,  and  vindicatory 
of  the  Agent. 

From  Sac  and  Fox  I  returned  by  way  of  Pawnee  and 
Otoe  to  Ponca,  and  proceeded  thence  by  way  of  Okla- 


238         SERVICE  ON  THE  INDIAN  RESERVATIONS. 

homa  Station,  on  the  Santa  Fe  Railroad,  to  the  Cheyenne 
and  Arapahoe  Agency. 

That  being  before  the  opening  of  Oklahoma  to  white 
settlement,  where  the  City  of  Oklahoma  now  stands 
there  was  nothing  but  a  small  railroad  station  house,  a 
water  tank,  and  a  miserable  stage  station. 

I  stopped  a  week  at  the  Cheyenne  and  Arapahoe 
Agency,  and  then  went  on  down  to  the  Kiowa,  Coman- 
che  and  Wichita  Agency,  arriving  there  on  the  26th  of 
August. 

Charges  of  dishonesty,  drunkenness,  and  various 
other  acts  of  misconduct,  had  been  preferred  against  the 
Agent,  and  I  had  orders  to  make  a  careful  investigation. 
I  soon  had  abundant  ocular  proof  of  the  second  allega 
tion.  My  arrival  was  about  the  middle  of  a  Sunday 
afternoon,  and  before  night  five  different  employes  came 
about  the  boarding  house  so  drunk  they  could  hardly 
walk.  Having  heard  of  my  arrival,  every  one,  drunk 
man  like,  made  ridiculous  efforts  to  "play  sober,"  and 
seemed  extremely  desirous  of  making  my  acquaintance 
and  assuring  me  that  the  Ae^ent  was  the  "best  man  that 
ever  was,"  and  that  all  the  affairs  of  his  Agency  were 
in  perfect  order.  Calling  on  the  Agent  at  his  residence 
after  supper,  I  found  him  in  the  same  condition  as  the 
employes. 

It  took  me  two  months  and  a  half  to  complete  the 


EXPERIENCES  OF  A  SPECIAL   INDIAN   AGENT.       239 

investigation,  my  report  being  submitted  on  the  8th  of 
October.  My  findings  were  that  the  Agent  had  been 
habitually  in  a  state  of  intoxication ;  that  he  had  con 
verted  public  funds  to  his  own  use ;  that  he  had  pre 
sented  false  accounts  and  forged  vouchers  against  the 
Government;  that  he  had  misapplied  public  property; 
that  he  had  been  in  collusion  with  the  beef  contractor 
to  swindle  in  the  weights  and  quality  of  beef;  that  he 
had  leased  a  portion  of  his  Reservation  to  cattlemen  for 
grazing  purposes  contrary  alike  to  the  wishes  of  the 
Indians  and  the  instructions  of  the  Department;  that  he 
had  converted  to  his  own  use  large  sums  of  money  paid 
to  him  by  cattlemen  for  grazing  lands  on  the  Reserva 
tion;  that  he  had  suffered  habitual  drunkenness  among 
his  employes ;  that  he  was  often  unnecessarily  absent 
from  his  Agency  without  leave;  and  that  his  habits 
were  so  irregular,  and  his  official  course  so  capricious 
and  tyrannical,  that  he  worried  and  dissatisfied  the 
Indians  and  provoked  them  to  resentment  and  mutiny. 

As  soon  as  my  report  was  received  in  Washington 
the  Agent  was  removed  from  office  and  I  was  ordered 
to  take  charge  of  the  Agency,  which  I  did  on  the  ipth 
of  October. 

This  is  one  of  the  largest  and  most  important  Agen 
cies  in  the  United  States,  and  in  many  respects,  I 
think,  the  most  interesting  of  all.  It  embraces  two 


240         SERVICE  ON  THE  INDIAN  RESERVATIONS. 

separate  Reservations,  and  nine  different  tribes,  the 
population  being  as  follows:  One  thousand  six  hun 
dred  and  twenty-four  Comanches,  one  thousand  one 
hundred  and  fifty-one  Kiowas,  three  hundred  and 
twenty-five  Apaches,  five  hundred  and  forty-five  Cad- 
does,  one  hundred  and  seventy-five  Wichitas,  one  hun 
dred  and  fifty  Tehuacanas,  ninety-five  Delawares, 
thirty-five  Wacoes,  and  sixty-six  Keechis — four  thousand 
one  hundred  and  sixty-six  in  all.  These  Indians  speak 
nine  different  languages  or  distinct  dialects,  and  have  as 
many  different  distinguishing  tribal  characteristics. 

The  Agency  is  situated  on  the  south  bank  of  the 
Washita  River,  which  separates  the  two  Reservations. 
The  name  of  the  post  office  is  Anadarko — the  beautiful 
name  of  a  tribe  that  once  also  belonged  to  the  Agency, 
but  is  now  extinct. 

The  Wichitas,  Caddoes,  Tehuacanas,  Delawares, 
Wacoes  and  Keechis  all  live  on  the  Wichita  Reserva 
tion,  which  lies  on  the  north  side  of  the  Washita,  and 
contains  about  seven  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  acres. 
The  Wichitas  are  the  original  occupants  of  this  country, 
and  they  have  always  been  friendly  towards  the  whites. 
It  is  their  boast  that  they  have  never  raised  a  hostile 
hand  against  a  white  man,  and  that  they  have  always 
been  loyal  and  obedient  to  the  Government. 

Most  of  the  Caddoes,  Delawares,  Tehuacanas  and 
Wacoes  have  log  houses,  but  a  great  many  of  them 


242         SERVICE  ON  THE  INDIAN  RESERVATIONS. 

dwell  in  tents.  The  Wichitas  also  have  some  log 
houses,  but  a  large  majority  of  them  still  inhabit  their 
famous  grass  lodges — lodges  which  are  in  form  and 
structure  peculiar  to  the  Wichitas,  and  altogether  unlike 
the  lodges  of  any  other  Indians  in  the  United  States. 

Of  these  affiliated  bands  the  Caddoes  are  the  most 
advanced  in  enlightenment  and  civilization.  They  are 
capable  of  self-support,  and  all  the  women,  and  most  of 
the  men,  wear  civilized  dress.  They,  and  also  all  the 
other  affiliated  Indians,  own  farms  individually,  or  in 
communities,  and  produce  some  good  crops.  They 
also  own  a  great  many  horses,  cattle,  hogs,  wagons  and 
other  property. 

The  "wild  tribes"  of  the  Agency  are  the  Comanches, 
Kiowas  and  Apaches.  As  late  as  1876  these  three 
tribes  were  the  terrors  of  the  plains  and  frontier  settle 
ments  from  Nebraska  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico,  and  from 
the  Arkansas  River  to  the  Pecos  and  the  Rio  Grande. 
They  now  reside  peaceably  on  their  own  Reservation, 
and  many  of  them,  especially  of  the  Comanches,  are 
making  encouraging  progress  towards  self-support  in 
civilized  pursuits. 

Their  Reservation  contains  nearly  three  million  acres, 
being  about  sixty-five  miles  square,  and  it  is  one  of  the 
richest  and  most  beautiful  countries  that  I  have  ever 
seen.  It  is  situated  in  the  southwest  corner  of  Okla 
homa,  adjoining  Texas. 


EXPERIENCES  OF  A  SPECIAL    INDIAN   AGENT.       243 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 

DESCRIPTION  OF  AN  ISSUE  OF  BEEF  CATTLE — HOW 
RATIONS  ARE  ISSUED  FROM  THE  WAREHOUSE — A 
"HEAP  BIG  HOSS  RACE." 

T3  EGULAR  bi-weekly  issues  of  rations  are  made  at 
Anadarko  to  all  the  Indians  on  both  Reserva 
tions,  the  aggregate  quantities  of  the  principal  articles 
issued  during  the  year  that  I  was  in  charge  being  three 
million  five  hundred  thousand  pounds  of  beef,  and  six 
hundred  thousand  pounds  of  flour. 

For  bi-weekly  issues  the  Agent  is  first  required  to 
divide  the  year's  supply  of  each  article  into  twenty-six 
equal  parts,  which  gives  him  one  part  for  each  issue  in 
the  year.  One  part  is  then  divided  by  the  whole  num 
ber  of  Indians  on  the  Reservation,  and  that  gives  the 
ration  of  each  Indian  at  each  issue. 

Once  a  year  an  actual  count  of  all  the  Indians  is 
made,  and  the  census  roll  of  each  band  corrected  by 
subtracting  the  deaths  and  adding  the  births.  This  is 
a  piece  of  work  that  requires  great  care  and  watchful- 


244         SERVICE  ON  THE  INDIAN  RESERVATIONS. 

ness,  for  many  of  these  once  guileless  children  of  the 
prairies  are  now  civilized  to  the  degree  that  they  are 
not  too  truthful  to  deny  deaths,  nor  too  honest  to  pass 
their  pappooses  around  to  be  exhibited  for  enrollment 
by  different  families. 

Upon  the  completion  of  the  census  a  ticket  is  made 
out  for  each  head  of  a  family,  showing  his  name,  the 
name  of  his  band,  his  number  on  the  census  roll,  the 
number  of  persons  in  his  family,  the  total  number  of 
rations  that  they  are  entitled  to  receive  at  each  issue, 
and  the  dates  of  the  issues.  As  the  squaws  draw  all 
the  rations  except  the  beef,  these  tickets  are  turned  over 
to  them,  and  they  carry  them  in  little  rawhide  cases 
which  they  make  themselves  for  the  purpose. 

Before  the  hour  arrives  for  the  issue  the  supplies  are 
first  weighed  in  bulk  and  then  trucked  to  the  counters 
and  opened,  so  as  to  be  convenient  for  weighing  and 
measuring  by  the  family  ration.  The  squaws  are  ad 
mitted  in  line  at  one  door,  and  pass  out  at  another. 
The  issue  clerk  is  stationed  with  the  interpreter  near 
the  entrance.  When  a  squaw  presents  her  ticket  to  him 
he  punches  out  the  date  and  calls  the  number  of  rations. 
She  hands  her  sacks  across  the  counter,  and  one  em 
ploye  gives  her  flour,  another  sugar  and  salt,  another 
beans  and  rice,  and  another  soap  and  baking  powder. 

In  this  way  issues  can  be  made  with  accuracy  to  sev- 


246         SERVICE  ON  THE  INDIAN  RESERVATIONS. 

eral  hundred  in  a  day.  The  Indian  police  are  required 
to  preserve  order  and  keep  the  women  from  crowding. 
A  number  of  chiefs  also  always  attend,  to  see  that  the 
issue  is  fairly  made,  and  to  sign  the  Agent's  vouchers. 

For  issuing  the  beef  cattle  the  Agent  divides  the 
Indians  into  "beef  bands"  of  twenty-five  and  fifty  per 
sons,  and  appoints  a  "beef  chief"  for  each  band.  At 
Anadarko  the  bands  of  twenty-five  get  one  beef,  and 
those  of  fifty  get  two,  at  each  issue. 

Entering  the  corral  on  their  trained  cow-ponies,  the 
herders  run  the  cattle  on  the  scales  in  bunches  of  from 
two  to  ten  head,  and  a  clerk  weighs  them.  From  the 
scales  they  are  turned  into  a  narrow  chute,  which  opens 
on  the  prairie  outside  of  the  corral.  There  they  are 
given  fresh  hair-brands  with  the  Government  irons,  so 
that  the  Indians  may  have  no  trouble  in  selling  the  hides. 

All  the  Indians  are  present,  most  of  the  men  and 
boys  being  armed  and  mounted,  to  participate  in  the 
slaughter.  The  cattle  being  where  all  can  see  them, 
the  issue  clerk  with  the  interpreter  calls  out  the  names 
of  the  chiefs,  and  points  out  ihe  cattle  apportioned  to 
them,  respectively. 

The  gate  is  then  thrown  open,  and  the  cattle,  smart 
ing  from  the  branding  irons,  make  a  mad  dash  for  the 
prairie.  As  they  clear  the  chute,  from  two  to  ten 
mounted  Indians  fall  in  behind  each  one  and  open  fire 


EXPERIENCES  OF  A  SPECIAL   INDIAN   AGENT.       247 

on  it,  some  with  revolvers  and  some  with  Winchester 
rifles. 

It  usually  takes  three  hours  to  complete  the  issue — 
the  average  turn-out  being  one  per  minute — and  from 
the  beginning  to  the  end  painted  and  feathered  Indians 
and  infuriated  long-horned  Texas  steers  are  running  in 
every  direction  for  a  mile  around.  The  marksmanship 
of  the  Indians  is  surprisingly  bad — an  average  of  five 
shots  to  the  animal,  or  a  thousand  in  all,  being  required 
to  complete  the  slaughter,  the  number  of  cattle  being 
two  hundred.  They  are  struck  in  every  part  of  the 
body  from  the  hoofs  to  the  horns. 

The  squaws  being  near  at  hand  with  the  wagons  and 
hacks,  as  soon  as  an  animal  falls  they  gather  around  it 
with  their  knives  and  begin  skinning  and  dividing. 
The  men  assist  some  in  this  work,  though  the  women 
do  the  most  of  it.  Fires  are  also  made  and  very  soon 
cooking  and  eating  is  going  on  throughout  the  camps. 

The  beef  is  cut  into  thin  slices  or  strips  and  hung  in 
the  sun  and  over  the  fires  to  dry.  By  the  next  day  it 
is  well  cured,  and  then  most  of  the  Indians  load  up 
their  pack-ponies  and  wagons  and  return  to  their  per 
manent  camps. 

At  the  third  issue  after  I  took  charge  the  Indians 
gave  me  an  extremely  painful  scare,  causing  me  to  think 
for  about  one  minute  that  five  minutes  would  probably 


EXPERIENCES  OF  A  SPECIAL   INDIAN   AGENT.       249 

terminate  my  life.  Nobody  knew  anything  about  it  at 
the  time,  however,  and  after  it  was  all  over  I  considered 
it  a  capital  joke  on  myself. 

Through  the  center  of  the  widely  scattered,  rambling 
Agency  village,  there  is  a  broad,  smooth  road,  which 
the  Indians  had  always  used  as  a  race-track.  As  there 
had  been  no  rain  for  several  months,  every  time  a  race 
was  run  a  great  cloud  of  dust  went  rolling  into  the 
houses.  Besides  that,  there  were  quite  a  number  of 
children  at  the  Agency,  and  they,  and  even  grown  peo 
ple,  both  white  and  Indian,  were  liable  to  be  run  over. 
So  without  consulting  anybody,  I  posted  an  order  in 
writing  forbidding  any  more  racing  there  after  the 
second  issue-day.  When  that  became  known  nearly  all 
the  employes  and  traders  told  me  that  I  had  attempted 
a  reform  that  could  not  be  accomplished.  They  said 
they  were  sure  the  Indians  would  not  obey  the  order, 
and  that  I  could  not  make  them  do  it. 

I  told  the  chiefs  that  I  had  no  objection  to  their 
racing  anywhere  else,  and  would  even  send  the  Indian 
employes  and  police  with  tools  to  assist  in  laying  out 
another  track  just  back  of  the  Agency.  Nevertheless, 
their  faces  showed  great  dissatisfaction,  and  as  they 
dropped  no  intimation  as  to  what  they  proposed  to  do 
about  it,  I  became  somewhat  apprehensive  that  the 
opinion  of  the  employes  might  be  correct.  This  ap- 


250          SERVICE  ON  THE  INDIAN  RESERVATIONS. 

prehension  was  most  troublesome  in  the  reflection  that 
as  I  was  only  temporarily  in  charge  I  could  have  ignored 
the  nuisance  just  as  well  as  not. 

About  3  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  of  the  third  issue- 
day,  Mr.  J.  W.  Carson,  the  chief  of  the  Agency  police, 
reported  that  an  unusually  large  crowd  of  Comanches, 
Kiowas,  Caddoes  and  Apaches  had  assembled  at  each 
end  of  the  track  and  were  running  races,  as  he  expressed 
it,  "to  beat  the  devil." 

I  told  him  to  order  them  to  stop  it,  and  if  they  did 
not  obey,  to  arrest  the  transgressors  and  bring  them  to 
the  office.  He  departed  without  a  word,  but  the  ex 
pression  on  his  face  was  about  such  as  might  have  been 
expected  if  he  had  been  ordered  to  stand  on  the  rail 
road  track  and  knock  the  lightning  express  off  with  a 
club. 

Although  the  order  could  just  as  well  have  been 
omitted,  it  was  a  proper  one,  and  since  it  had  been 
published  its  enforcement  was  absolutely  necessary  to 
the  maintenance  of  my  authority  as  Agent;  and  while 
I  did  not  tell  Mr.  Carson  so,  it  was  my  intention  for 
him  to  make  the  attempt,  and  if  he  failed,  to  telegraph 
to  Fort  Sill  for  troops.  If  the  rule  was  unjust,  I  could 
afterwards  revoke  it  with  good  effect,  but  at  that  stage 
of  the  proceedings  I  could  not  recede  from  it  without 
loss  of  respect. 


EXPERIENCES  OF  A  SPECIAL  INDIAN  AGENT.      251 

In  a  short  while  Carson  galloped  back  with  the  report 
that  the  Indians  claimed  to  have  understood  that  the 
order  was  not  to  take  effect  until  the  next  issue-day. 
They  said  the  reason  so  many  had  assembled  was  that 
they  understood  it  to  be  the  last  day  on  the  old  track, 
and  all  wanted  to  run  a  sort  of  farewell  race.  Carson 
said  the  traders  had  also  misunderstood  the  day,  and 
had  donated  twenty  dollars  worth  of  provisions  to  be 
distributed  as  prizes  on  four  bunch  races.  He  reported 
also  that  the  chiefs  were  entirely  reasonable  and  would 
desist  at  once  if  I  insisted  on  it,  but  in  view  of  the  mis 
understanding,  and  especially  as  that  was  a  better  track 
than  the  new  one,  they  hoped  I  would  at  least  suffer 
them  to  run  the  four  prize  races  there. 

Of  course,  under  the  circumstances,  this  request  could 
not  be  denied,  and  as  those  four  races  were  to  be  rather 
extraordinary,  as  well  as  the  last  on  the  old  track,  I 
concluded  to  go  up  from  the  office  to  the  Agent's  house 
and  witness  them  myself.  The  Agent's  dwelling,  a 
two-story  brick  cottage,  is  situated  a  hundred  yards 
back  from  the  track,  near  midway  its  length,  and  com 
mands  an  unobstructed  view  of  it  from  one  end  to  the 
other.  I  was  the  sole  occupant  of  the  house  at  the 
time,  and  going  out  on  the  upper  porch,  I  sat  down 
alone. 

There  were  eight  ponies  in  the  first  race,  seven  in  the 
second,  and,  I  thought,  thirteen  in  the  third, 


EXPERIENCES  OF  A  SPECIAL   INDIAN   AGENT.       253 

After  the  third  race  all  the  Indians  at  the  upper  end 
of  the  track  rode  back  and  joined  the  big  crowd  at  the 
starting  point.  A  long  parley  ensued,  and  as  they 
kept  crowding  closer  together  on  their  ponies  and  talk 
ing  excitedly,  I  began  to  wonder  what  it  meant. 
Looking  through  a  spyglass  I  tried  to  see  what  Carson 
was  doing,  but  as  he  had  retired  to  a  shade  and  dis 
mounted,  I  could  not  find  him.  And  there  was  no 
other  white  person  in  sight.  All  the  employes  were  off 
at  their  duties,  and  as  the  stores  were  thronged  with 
squaws  and  other  Indians  the  traders  and  clerks  were 
all  indoors  and  taking  no  notice  of  what  was  going  on 
outside. 

Finally  Quanah  Parker,  the  chief  of  the  Comanches, 
rode  out  in  front  of  the  crowd  and  began  to  speak.  I 
could  see  that  his  remarks  were  being  received  with 
many  demonstrations  of  approval,  and  in  a  few  minutes 
he  commenced  riding  back  and  forth,  apparently  form 
ing  the  crowd  into  a  straight  front  across  the  street, 
which  at  that  place  is  perhaps  fifty  yards  wide.  There 
seemed  to  be  about  ten  lines  of  them  extending  entirely 
across  from  Erwin's  boarding  house  to  Reynolds'  store. 
These  maneuvers  were  so  unusual  that  the  wonder  with 
which  I  viewed  them  was  no  longer  unmixed  with  ap 
prehension. 

Being  mounted  on  a  large  iron-grey  American  horse, 


254         SERVICE  ON  THE  INDIAN  RESERVATIONS. 

Quanah  Parker  was  a  very  commanding  figure.  When 
he  seemed  to  get  all  the  lines  formed  to  his  satisfaction, 
he  rode  to  the  center  of  the  street,  faced  the  crowd, 
took  off  his  hat,  spoke  a  few  words,  and  then  galloped 
to  one  side.  Wheeling  there  and  facing  the  crowd 
again,  he  drew  his  six-shooter  and  fired  it  off  in  the  air. 

Then  came  my  panic!  The  pistol  was  the  signal  to 
"go,"  and  the  whole  crowd  "went" — went  like  a  hur 
ricane — every  one  yelling  and  quirting  his  pony  as  if 
his  life  depended  on  the  effort. 

The  thought  seized  me  that  they  had  concluded  not 
to  submit  to  the  order,  and  were  coming  to  dispose  of 
me  right  then  and  there.  With  the  quickly  formed  de 
termination  to  get  at  least  one  shot  at  them  as  they 
came  over  the  yard  fence,  I  ran  into  my  room  and 
jerked  up  a  Winchester  rifle.  But  as  I  got  back  to  the 
porch  the  whole  crowd  was  sweeping  up  the  track  like 
a  cyclone,  not  one  looking  to  the  right  or  the  left,  but 
all  still  yelling  and  quirting  their  ponies  with  undi- 
minished  energy. 

Just  then  I  saw  Carson  come  loping  around  from 
behind  the  great  cloud  of  dust.  Dismounting  at  the 
gate,  he  laughed  and  asked  me  if  it  was  not  the  biggest 
horse  race  I  ever  saw.  To  my  inquiry  as  to  what  it 
meant,  he  said  that  fifteen  ponies  were  to  have  been 
entered  in  the  last  race,  but  when  the  time  came  all 


EXPERIENCES  OF  A  SPECIAL   INDIAN   AGENT.       255 

wanted  to  be  in  it,  and  not  enough  of  them  would  sub 
mit  to  being  ruled  out  to  bring  the  number  down  even 
as  low  as  fifty.  Finally  Quanah  Parker  proposed  that 
as  it  was  the  last  race  on  the  old  track,  they  give  back 
the  prize,  and  all  run  through  and  get  all  the  fun  they 
could  out  of  it. 

In  fifteen  or  twenty  minutes  the  entire  crowd  came 
riding  back  on  their  way  to  the  new  track,  all  laughing, 
talking  and  teasing  one  another.  As  they  passed 
immediately  in  front  of  the  house  every  one  saluted  me 
in  some  friendly  manner,  and  several  of  them  said: 

"Heap  big  hoss  race!  Go  to  it  now,  the  new  track. 
Cut  it  off,  the  old  track.  All  right.  You  say  so." 

Carson  failed  to  notice  that  I  had  been  in  a  panic,  or 
was  too  respectful  and  polite  to  appear  to  have  noticed 
it,  and  it  was  a  long  time  before  I  told  the  joke  on 
myself. 


256         SERVICE  ON  THE  INDIAN  RESERVATIONS. 


CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

THE  COMANCHES  —  QUANAH,  THE  NOTED  CHIEF  —  CYN 
THIA  ANN  PARKER,  THE  WHITE  CAPTIVE  —  THRILLING 
NARRATIVES  BY  GENERAL  ALFORD  AND  GOVERNOR 
ROSS. 


was  conceded  to  the  Comanches,  and 
mainly  to  Quanah,  the  chief  of  that  tribe,  for  the 
cheerful  obedience  of  the  Indians  to  the  order  relating 
to  horse-racing  at  Anadarko. 

As  a  rule  the  most  obedient,  self-reliant  and  trust 
worthy  Indians  of  the  present  day  are  those  that  were 
in  the  days  of  the  war-trail  the  bravest  and  most  in 
domitable  warriors.  This  is  notably  true  of  the 
Comanches.  Before  their  subjugation  they  surpassed 
all  the  plains  Indians  in  enterprise  and  daring,  being 
the  scourge  of  all  the  frontier  settlements  from  the  Ar 
kansas  to  the  Rio  Grande.  But  since  1876  they  have 
lived  peaceably  on  their  Reservation  and  been  uncom 
plainingly  submissive  to  the  authority  of  the  Agent. 

Much  credit  for  the  present  good  character  of  this 


EXPERIENCES  OF  A  SPECIAL   INDIAN   AGENT.       257 

famous  tribe  is  unquestionably  due  to  Quanah  Parker, 
the  principal  chief,  who  in  the  old  days  was  himself  a 
redoubtable  warrior. 

This  distinguished  chief  has  an  exceedingly  romantic 
and  interesting  history,  being  a  son  of  the  noted  chief, 
Petanocona,  and  the  unhappy  white  captive,  Cynthia 
Ann  Parker. 

Desiring  to  give  the  readers  of  this  narrative  the 
pathetic  story  of  the  life  of  this  sorrow-burdened  cap 
tive  in  connection  with  that  of  her  famous  barbarian 
son,  I  wrote  to  Governor  Ross  for  an  account  of  her 
capture  by  the  Indians,  and  recapture  and  restoration 
to  her  kindred  by  himself,  and  received  the  following 
polite  and  thoughtful  answer: 

EXECUTIVE  OFFICE,  AUSTIN,  June  ;th. 

DEAR  SIR — I  have  recently  written  a  full  account  of 
the  rescue  of  Cynthia  Ann  Parker  and  Lizzie  Ross,  at 
the  request  of  General  Geo.  F.  Altord,  of  Dallas.  I 
am  too  much  occupied  with  public  matters  to  go  over 
it  again,  but  if  you  will  address  General  Alford  I  am 
sure  he  will  supply  you  a  copy.  Thanking  you  for 
your  kindly  expressions  in  regard  to  the  matter,  I  am, 

Yours  respectfully, 

L.  S.  ROSS. 

Acting  upon  Governor  Ross'  suggestion,  I  then  wrote 
to  General  Alford,  and  received  the  following  courteous 

reply  from  him: 
(9) 


258          SERVICE  ON  THE  INDIAN  RESERVATIONS. 

DALLAS,  TEXAS,  June  nth. 

MY  DEAR  SIR — I  have  your  favor  of  the  Qth  inst., 
requesting  a  copy  of  Governor  Ross'  letter  to  me  in 
regard  to  the  recapture  of  Cynthia  Ann  Parker.  The 
document  was  written  to  give  me  data  from  which  to 
write  a  historical  sketch  of  this  most  important  part  of 
Texas  history.  1  hope  to  have  the  article  ready  for  the 
July  number  of  "The  Round  Table,"  a  literary  period 
ical  published  in  this  city.  When  published  I  will  take 
pleasure  in  mailing  you  a  copy. 

Sincerely  yours, 

GEO.  F.  ALFORD. 

In  due  time  I  also  received  the  promised  copy  of 
The  Round  Table  containing  General  Alford's  article, 
"Early  Life  in  the  Lone  Star  Republic,"  from  which  I 
extract  the  following  graphic  accounts  relating  to  "The 
White  Comanche:" 

"Amongst  numerous  illustrations  of  heroism  which 
illumine  the  pages  of  Texas  history  perhaps  none  shines 
with  a  brighter  halo  than  the  capture  of  Fort  Parker. 

In  1833  a  small  colony  formed  in  Illinois,  moved  to 
the  then  Mexican  province  of  Texas,  and  settled  in  a 
beautiful  and  fertile  region  on  the  Navasota  River, 
about  two  miles  from  the  present  City  of  Groesbeck,  the 
county  seat  of  Limestone  County.  The  colony  consisted 
of  nine  families,  in  all  thirty-four  persons,  of  which 
Elder  John  Parker  was  the  patriarchal  head.  They 
erected  a  blockhouse,  which  was  known  as  Fort 
Parker,  for  protection  against  the  assaults  of  hostile 
Indians.  This  structure  was  made  of  solid  logs,  closely 
knit  together  and  hewn  down  so  as  to  make  a  compact, 
perfect  square,  without  opening  of  any  kind  until  it 


EXPERIENCES  OF  A  SPECIAL   INDIAN   AGENT.       259 

reached  a  height  of  ten  or  twelve  feet,  where  the 
structure  widened  on  each  side,  forming  a  projection 
impossible  to  climb.  The  lower  story,  reached  only  by 
an  interior  ladder,  was  used  as  a  place  of  storage  for 
provisions.  The  upper  story  was  divided  into  two  large 
rooms  with  portholes  for  the  use  of  guns,  which  rooms 
were  used  as  living  rooms  and  reached  only  by  a  ladder 
from  the  outside  which  was  pulled  up  at  night,  after  the 
occupants  had  ascended,  making  a  safe  fortification 
against  any  reasonable  force  unless  assailed  by  fire. 

These  hardy  sons  of  toil  tilled  their  adjacent  fields  by 
day,  always  taking  their  arms  with  them,  and  retired 
to  the  fort  at  night.  Success  crowned  their  labors  and 
they  were  prosperous  and  happy.  On  the  morning  of 
May  18,  1836,  the  men,  unconscious  of  impending 
danger,  left  as  usual  for  their  fields,  a  mile  distant. 
Scarcely  had  they  left  the  inclosure  when  the  fort  was 
attacked  by  about  seven  hundred  Comanches  and 
Kiowas,  who  were  waiting  in  ambush.  A  gallant  and 
most  resolute  defense  was  made,  many  savages  being 
sent  by  swift  bullets  to  their  "happy  hunting  grounds," 
but  it  was  impossible  to  stem  the  terrible  assault,  and 
Fort  Parker  fell.  Then  began  the  carnival  of  death. 
Elder  John  Parker,  Silas  M.  Parker,  Ben  F.  Parker, 
Sam  M.  Frost  and  Robert  Frost  were  killed  and  scalped 
in  the  presence  of  their  horror-stricken  families.  Mrs. 
John  Parker,  Granny  Parker  and  Mrs.  Duty  were  dan 
gerously  wounded  and  left  for  dead,  and  the  following 
were  carried  into  a  captivity  worse  than  death:  Mrs. 
Rachel  Plummer,  James  Pratt  Plummer,  her  two-year- 
old  son,  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Kellogg,  Cynthia  Ann  Parker, 
nine  years  old,  and  her  little  brother  John,  aged  six, 
both  children  of  Silas  M.  Parker. 

The  remainder  of  the  party  made  their  escape,  and 
after  incredible  suffering,  being  forced  even  to  the  dire 


260         SERVICE  ON  THE  INDIAN  RESERVATIONS. 

necessity  of  eating  skunks  to  save  their  lives,  they 
reached  Fort  Houston,  now  the  residence  of  Hon.  John 
H.  Reagan,  about  three  miles  from  the  present  City  of 
Palestine,  in  Anderson  County,  where  they  obtained 
prompt  succor,  and  a  relief  party  buried  their  dead. 
We  will  now  attempt  briefly  to  follow  the  fortunes  of 
the  poor  captives.  The  first  night  after  the  massacre 
the  savages  camped  on  an  open  prairie,  near  a  water- 
hole,  staked  their  horses,  pitched  their  camp  and  threw 
out  their  videttes.  They  then  brought  out  their  prison 
ers,  stripped  them  and  tied  their  hands  behind  them 
and  their  feet  together  with  rawhide  thongs,  so  close 
and  tight  as  to  cut  their  flesh.  Then  throwing  them 
upon  their  faces,  the  braves  gathered  around  them  with 
the  yet  bloody,  dripping  scalps  of  their  martyred  kin 
dred,  and  began  their  usual  war-dance,  alternately 
dancing,  screaming,  yelling,  stamping  upon  their  help 
less  victims  and  beating  their  naked  bodies  with  bows 
and  arrows  until  the  flowing  blood  almost  strangled 
them.  These  orgies  continued  at  intervals  through  the 
terrible  night,  which  seemed  to  have  no  end,  these  frail 
women  suffering  and  compelled  to  listen  to  the  cries  of 
their  tender  little  children.  Mrs.  Kellogg,  more  fortu 
nate  than  the  others,  soon  fell  into  the  hands  of  the 
Keechi  Indians,  who,  six  months  later,  sold  her  to  the 
Delawares,  who  carried  her  to  Nacogdoches,  where  this 
writer  then  lived,  a  small  child  with  his  parents.  Here 
she  was  ransomed  for  $150  by  General  Sam  Houston, 
who  promptly  restored  her  to  her  kindred.  Mrs. 
Rachel  Plummer  remained  a  captive  for  eighteen 
months,  suffering  untold  agonies  and  indignities,  when 
she  was  finally  ransomed  by  a  Santa  Fe  trader  named 
Wm.  Donahue,  who  soon  after  escorted  her  to  Inde 
pendence,  Missouri,  from  whence  she  finally  made  her 
way  back  to  Texas,  arriving  February  19,  1838.  Her 


EXPERIENCES  OF  A  SPECIAL   INDIAN   AGENT.       261 

son,  James  Pratt  Plummer,  after  remaining  a  prisoner 
six  years,  was  ransomed  at  Fort  Gibson  and  reached  his 
home  in  Texas  in  February,  1843,  then  aged  eight 
years.  During  Mrs.  Plummer's  captivity  she  again 
became  a  mother.  When  her  child  was  six  months  old, 
finding  it  an  impediment  to  the  menial  labors  imposed 
upon  her  as  a  slave,  a  Comanche  warrior  forcibly  took 
it  from  her  arms,  and  tying  a  lariat  around  its  body  and 
mounting  his  horse,  dragged  the  infant  at  full  speed 
around  the  camp  in  sight  of  the  agonized  mother  until 

(life  was  extinct,  when  its  mangled  remains  were  tossed 
back  into  her  lap  with  savage  demonstrations  of  delight. 
This  leaves  of  the  sorrowing  captives  only  Cynthia 
Ann  Parker  and  her  little  brother  John,  held  by  separate 
bands.  John  grew  up  to  athletic  young  manhood, 
married  a  beautiful  night-eyed  young  Mexican  captive, 
Donna  Juanita  Espinosa,  escaped  from  the  savages,  or 
was  released  by  them,  joined  the  Confederate  army 
under  General  H.  P.  Bee,  became  noted  for  his  gal 
lantry  and  daring,  and  at  latest  accounts  was  leading  a 
happy,  contented,  pastoral  life  as  a  ranchero,  on  the 
Western  Llano  Estacado  of  Texas. 

Four  long  and  anxious  years  had  passed  since  Cynthia 
Ann  was  taken  from  her  weeping  mother's  arms,  during 
which  time  no  tidings  had  been  received  by  her  anxious 
family,  when  in  1840  Colonel  Len  Williams,  an  old  and 
honored  Texan,  Mr.  Stout,  a  trader,  and  Jack  Harry, 
a  Delaware  Indian  guide,  packed  mules  with  goods  and 
engaged  in  an  expedition  of  private  traffic  with  the 
Indians.  On  the  Canadian  River  they  fell  in  with 
Pahauka's  Band  of  Comanches,  with  whom  they  were 
peaceably  conversant.  Cynthia  Ann  was  with  this  tribe 
and  from  the  day  of  her  capture  had  never  beheld  a 
white  person.  Colonel  Williams  proposed  to  redeem 
her  from  the  old  Comanche  who  held  her  in  bondage, 


262         SERVICE  ON  THE  INDIAN  RESERVATIONS. 

but  the  fierceness  of  his  countenance  warned  him  of  the 
danger  of  further  mentioning  the  subject.  Pahauka, 
however,  permitted  her  reluctantly  to  sit  at  the  root  of 
a  tree,  and  while  the  presence  of  the  white  men  was 
doubtless  a  happy  event  to  the  poor,  stricken  captive, 
who  in  her  doleful  captivity  had  endured  everything  buL 
death,  she  refused  to  speak  one  "uuord.  As  she  sat  there, 
musing,  perhaps,  of  distant  relatives  and  friends,  and 
her  bereavement  at  the  beginning  and  progress  of  her 
distress,  they  employed  every  persuasive  art  to  evoke 
from  her  some  expression  of  her  feelings.  They  told 
her  of  her  relatives  and  her. playmates,  and  asked  what 
message  of  love  she  would  send  them,  but  she  had  been 
commanded  to  silence,  and  with  no  hope  of  release  was 
afraid  to  appear  sad  or  dejected,  and  by  a  stoical  effort 
controlled  her  emotions,  lest  the  terrors  of  her  captivity 
should  be  increased.  But  the  anxiety  of  her  mind  was 
betrayed  by  the  quiver  of  her  lips,  showing  that  she 
was  not  insensible  to  the  common  feelings  of  humanity. 
As  the  years  rolled  by  Cynthia  Ann  developed  the 
charms  of  captivating  womanhood,  and  the  heart  of 
more  than  one  dusky  warrior  was  pierced  by  the  Ulys- 
sean  darts  of  her  laughing  eyes  and  the  ripple  of  her 
silvery  voice,  and  laid  at  her  feet  the  trophies  of  the 
chase.  Among  the  number  whom  her  budding  charms 
brought  to  her  shrine  was  Petanocona,  a  redoubtable 
Comanche  war  chief,  in  prowess  and  renown  the  peer 
of  the  famous  "Big  Foot,"  who  fell  in  a  desperate 
hand-to-hand  combat  with  the  famous  Indian  fighter, 
Captain  Shapley  P.  Ross,  of  Waco,  the  illustrious  father 
of  the  still  more  distinguished  son,  General  Sul  Ross, 
now  the  Governor  of  Texas.  It  is  a  remarkable  and 
happy  coincidence  that  the  son,  emulating  the  father's 
contagious  deeds  of  valor  and  prowess,  afterwards,  in 
single  combat,  in  the  valley  of  the  Pease,  forever  put  to 


EXPERIENCES  OF  A  SPECIAL    INDIAN   AGENT.       263 

rest  the  brave  and  knightly  Petanocona.  Cynthia  Ann, 
stranger  now  to  every  word  of  her  mother  tongue,  save 
only  her  childhood  name,  became  the  bride  of  the 
brown  warrior,  Petanocona,  bore  him  three  children, 
and  loved  him  with  a  fierce  passion  and  wifely  devotion 
evinced  by  the  fact  that  fifteen  years  after  her  capture  a 
party  of  hunters,  including  friends  of  her  family,  visited 
the  Comanche  encampment  on  the  upper  Canadian 
River,  and  recognizing  Cynthia  Ann  through  the  medium 
of  her  name,  endeavored  to  induce  her  to  return  to  her 
kindred  and  the  abode  of  civilization.  She  shook  her 
head  in  a  sorrowful  negative,  and,  pointing  to  her  little 
naked  barbarians  sporting  at  her  feet,  and  the  great, 
lazy  chief  sleeping  in  the  shade  near  by,  the  locks  of  a 
score  of  fresh  scalps  dangling  at  his  belt,  replied:  "I 
am  happily  wedded,  I  love  my  husband  and  my  little 
ones,  who  are  his  too,  and  I  cannot  forsake  them." 

The  recapture  of  Cynthia  Ann  Parker   Petanocona, 
and  the  thrilling  events  which  preceded   it,  can  be  best 
told   in  the  graphic  language  of  the  hero  who  accom 
plished   it,   and  I  therefore  append   his   modest  letter: 

EXECUTIVE  OFFICE,  AUSTIN,  April  iSth. 

MY  DEAR  GENERAL — -In  response  to  your  request  I 
herewith  inclose  you  my  recollections,  after  a  lapse  of 
thirty  years,  of  the  events  to  which  you  refer. 

In  1858  Major  Earl  Van  Dorn,  with  the  Second 
Cavalry,  U.  S.  A.,  one  company  of  infantry  to  guard 
his  depot  of  supplies,  and  one  hundred  and  thirty-five 
friendly  Indians  under  my  command,  made  a  successful 
campaign  against  the  Comanches,  and  by  a  series  of 
well  directed  blows  inflicted  terrible  punishment  upon 
them.  On  the  morning  of  October  I,  1858,  we  came 
in  sight  of  a  large  Indian  village  on  the  waters  of 


264         SERVICE  ON  THE  INDIAN  RESERVATIONS. 

Washita  River,  near  what  is  now  known  as  Fort  Sill,  in 
the  Indian  Territory.  They  were  not  apprehensive  of 
an  attack  and  most  of  them  were  still  asleep.  Major 
Van  Dorn  directed  me  at  the  head  of  my  Indians  to 
charge  down  the  line  of  their  lodges  or  tents,  cut  off 
their  horses  and  run  them  back  on  the  hill.  This  was 
quickly  accomplished.  Van  Dorn  then  charged  the 
village,  striking  it  at  the  upper  end,  as  it  stretched  along 
a  boggy  branch.  After  placing  about  thirty-five  of  my 
Indians  as  a  guard  around  the  Comanche  horses,  some 
four  hundred  in  number,  I  charged  with  the  balance  of 
my  Indian  force  into  the  lower  end  of  the  village.  The 
morning  was  very  foggy,  and  after  a  few  minutes  of 
firing  the  smoke  and  fog  became  so  dense  that  objects 
at  but  a  short  distance  could  be  distinguished  only  with 
great  difficulty.  The  Comanches  fought  with  great 
desperation,  as  all  they  possessed  was  in  imminent 
peril.  Shortly  after  the  engagement  became  general 
I  discovered  a  number  of  Comanches  running  down  the 
branch,  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  yards  from  the 
village,  and  concluded  they  were  retreating.  About 
this  time  I  was  joined  by  Lieutenant  Van  Camp,  of  the 
U.  S.  A.,  and  a  regular  soldier  by  the  name  of  Alex 
ander.  With  those  and  one  Caddo  Indian  I  ran  to 
intercept  them,  thus  becoming  separated  from  the  bal 
ance  of  my  force.  I  soon  discovered  that  the  fugitives 
were  women  and  children.  Just  then,  however,  another 
posse  of  them  came  along,  and  as  they  passed  I  dis 
covered  in  their  midst  a  little  white  girl  and  made  the 
Caddo  Indian  seize  her  as  she  was  passing.  She  was 
about  eight  years  of  age  and  became  badly  frightened 
and  difficult  to  manage  when  she  found  herself  detained 
by  us.  I  then  discovered,  much  to  my  dismay,  that 
about  twenty-five  Comanche  warriors,  under  cover  of 
the  smoke,  had  cut  off  my  small  party  of  four  from 


EXPERIENCES  OF  A  SPECIAL   INDIAN   AGENT.       265 

communication  with  our  comrades  and  were  bearing 
down  upon  us.  They  shot  Lieutenant  Van  Camp 
through  the  heart,  killing  him  while  in  the  act  of  firing 
his  double-barreled  gun.  Alexander  was  next  shot 
down  and  his  rifle  fell  out  of  his  hands.  I  had  a  Sharp's 
rifle  and  attempted  to  shoot  the  Indian  just  as  he  shot 
Alexander  but  the  cap  snapped.  Another  warrior, 
named  Mohee,  whom  I  had  often  seen  at  my  father's 
camp  on  .  the  frontier  when  he  was  an  Indian  Agent, 
then  seized  Alexander's  loaded  gun  and  shot  me  through 
the  body.  I  fell  upon  the  side  upon  which  my  pistol 
was  borne,  and  though  partially  paralyzed  by  the  shot, 
I  was  endeavoring  to  turn  myself  and  get  my  revolver 
out  when  the  Comanche  nearest  me  drew  out  a  long 
bladed  butcher  knife  and  started  to  stab  and  scalp  me. 
It  seemed  that  my  time  had  certainly  come.  He  made 
but  a  few  steps,  however,  when  one  of  his  companions 
cried  out  something  in  the  Comanche  tongue  and  they 
all  broke  away  and  fled  in  confusion.  Mohee,  the 
Indian  who  shot  me,  ran  only  about  twenty  steps  when 
he  received  a  load  of  buckshot,  fired  from  a  gun  in  the 
hands  of  Lieutenant  John  Majors,  of  the  Second  Cav 
alry,  U.  S.  A.,  who,  with  a  party  of  soldiers,  had 
opportunely  come  to  my  rescue.  During  this  desperate 
melee  the  Caddo  held  on  to  the  little  white  girl,  and 
doubtless  owed  his  escape  to  that  fact;  as  the  Coman- 
ches  were  afraid  if  they  shot  the  Caddo  they  would  kill 
the  little  girl.  This  whole  scene  transpired  in  a  few 
minutes,  and  Van  Dorn,  although  badly  wounded,  had 
possession  of  the  entire  village,  and  the  surviving 
Comanches  had  fled  to  the  almost  impenetrable  brushy 
hills,  leaving  their  dead  and  their  property  behind  them, 
consisting  of  ninety-five  dead  Indians,  a  number  of 
wounded  and  captives,  about  four  hundred  horses,  and 
the  spoils  of  their  camp.  The  Texas  troops  had  five 


266         SERVICE  ON  THE  INDIAN  RESERVATIONS. 

killed  and  several  wounded,  including  Major  Van  Dorn 
and  myself.  My  recollection  is  that  Lieutenant  Van 
Camp  was  a  protege  of  Hon.  Thad.  Stevens,  of  Penn 
sylvania,  and  had  but  recently  come  from  West  Point. 
He  was  a  gallant  and  chivalrous  officer,  and  though  at 
times  in  deadly  peril  myself,  and  entirely  bereft  of  all 
hope  of  escape,  I  shall  never  forget  the  emotions  of 
horror  that  seized  me  when  I  saw  the  Indian  warrior, 
standing  not  five  feet  away,  send  his  arrow  clear  to  the 
feather  into  the  heart  of  that  noble  young  officer.  No 
trace  of  the  parentage  or  kindred  of  the  little  girl  cap 
tive  could  ever  be  found,  and  I  adopted,  reared  and 
educated  her,  giving  her  the  name  of  Lizzie  Ross,  the 
former  being  in  honor  of  Miss  Lizzie  Tinsley,  the  young 
lady  to  whom  I  was  then  engaged  to  be  married,  and 
who  has  been  my  wife  since  May,  1861.  Lizzie  Ross, 
the  captive  girl,  grew  into  a  handsome  young  woman, 
and  married  happily,  but  died  a  few  years  since  in  Los 
Angeles,  California.  I  lay  upon  the  battle  field  for  five 
days  unable  to  be  moved,  when  a  litter  was  constructed 
and  I  was  carried  on  the  backs  of  my  faithful  Caddoes 
ninety  miles  to  Fort  Radziminski.  As  soon  as  able,  I 
returned  to  my  Alma  Mater,  Wesleyan  University, 
Florence,  Alabama,  where  I  finished  my  education, 
returning  to  Texas  in  1859.  At  the  period  of  which  I 
write  I  was  on  vacation. 

For  some  time  after  the  battle  of  the  Washita  the 
Comanches  were  less  troublesome  to  the  people  of  the 
Texas  frontier,  but  in  1859  and  1860  the  condition  of 
the  frontier  was  again  truly  deplorable.  The  loud  and 
clamorous  demands  of  the  settlers  induced  the  State 
Government  to  send  out  a  regiment  under  Colonel  M. 
T.  Johnson  for  public  defense.  The  expedition,  though 
a  great  expense  to  the  State,  failed  to  accomplish  any 
thing.  Having  just  graduated  and  returned  to  my 


EXPERIENCES  OF  A  SPECIAL   INDIAN   AGENT.       267 

home  at  Waco,  I  was  commissioned  as  Captain  by 
Governor  Sam  Houston,  and  directed  to  organize  a 
company  of  sixty  men,  with  orders  to  repair  to  Fort 
Belknap,  in  Young  County,  receive  from  Colonel  John 
son  all  Government  property,  as  his  regiment  was  dis 
banded,  and  offer  the  frontier  such  protection  as  was 
possible  from  so  small  a  force.  The  necessity  for 
vigorous  measures  soon  became  so  pressing,  however, 
that  I  determined  to  attempt  to  curb  the  insolence  of 
those  implacable  hereditary  enemies  of  Texas  who  were 
greatly  emboldened  by  the  small  force  left  to  confront 
them,  and  to  accomplish  this  by  following  them  into 
their  fastnesses  and  carrying  the  war  into  their  own 
homes.  I  was  compelled  after  establishing  a  post  to 
leave  twenty  of  my  men  to  guard  the  Government  prop 
erty,  and  give  some  show  of  protection  to  the  frightened 
settlers,  and  as  I  could  take  but  forty  of  my  men  I 
requested  Captain  N.  G.  Evans,  in  command  of  the 
U.  S.  troops  at  Fort  Cooper,  to  send  me  a  detachment 
of  the  Second  U.  S.  Cavalry.  We  had  been  intimately 
connected  in  the  Van  Dorn  campaign  in  1858,  during 
which  I  was  the  recipient  of  much  kindness  from  him 
while  I  was  suffering  from  the  severe  wound  received  in 
the  battle  of  the  Washita.  He  promptly  sent  me  a  Ser 
geant  and  twenty  well-mounted  men,  thus  increasing 
my  force  to  sixty.  My  force  was  still  further  augmented 
by  some  seventy  volunteer  citizens  under  the  brave  old 
frontiersman,  Captain  Jack  Cureton,  of  Bosque  County. 
On  December  18,  1860,  while  marching  up  Pease 
River  I  had  suspicions  that  Indians  were  in  the  vicinity 
by  reascn  of  the  great  number  of  buffalo  which  came 
running  toward  us  from  the  north,  and  while  my  com 
mand  moved  in  the  low  ground  I  visited  neighboring 
high  points  to  make  discoveries.  On  one  of  these  sand 
hills  I  found  four  fresh  pony  tracks,  and  being  satisfied 


268         SERVICE  ON  THE  INDIAN  RESERVATIONS. 

that  Indian  videttes  had  just  gone  I  galloped  forward 
about  a  mile  to  a  still  higher  point,  and  riding  to  the 
top,  to  my  inexpressible  surprise,  found  myself  within 
two  hundred  yards  of  a  large  Comanche  village,  located 
on  a  small  stream  winding  around  the  base  of  a  hill. 
It  was  a  most  happy  circumstance  that  a  cold,  piercing 
wind  from  the  north  was  blowing,  bearing  with  it  clouds 
of  dust,  and  my  presence  was  thus  unobserved,  and  the 
surprise  complete.  By  signalling  my  men  as  I  stood 
concealed  they  reached  me  without  being  discovered  by 
the  Indians,  who  were  busy  packing  up,  preparatory  to 
a  move.  By  the  time  my  men  reached  me  the  Indians 
had  mounted  and  moved  off  north  across  the  level  plain. 
My  command,  including  the  detatchment  of  the  Second 
Cavalry,  had  outmarched  and  become  separated  from 
the  citizen  command  of  seventy,  which  left  me  about 
sixty  men.  In  making  disposition  for  the  attack  the 
Sergeant  and  his  twenty  men  were  sent  at  a  gallop 
behind  a  chain  of  sand  hills  to  encompass  them  and  cut 
off  their  retreat,  while  with  my  forty  men  I  charged. 
The  attack  was  so  sudden  that  a  large  number  were 
killed  before  they  could  prepare  for  defense.  They  fled 
precipitately,  right  into  the  arms  of  the  Sergeant  and  his 
twenty  men.  Here  they  met  with  a  warm  reception, 
and  finding  themselves  completely  encompassed,  every 
one  fled  his  own  way  and  was  hotly  pursued  and  hard 
pressed.  The  chief,  a  warrior  of  great  repute,  named 
Petanocona,  with  an  Indian  girl  about  fifteen  years  of 
age  mounted  on  his  horse  behind  him,  and  Cynthia 
Ann  Parker,  his  squaw,  with  a  girl  child  about  two 
years  old  in  her  arms  and  mounted  on  a  fleet  pony,  fled 
together.  Lieutenant  Tom  Kelliheir  and  I  pursued 
them,  and,  after  running  about  a  mile,  Kelliheir  ran  up 
by  the  side  of  Cynthia  Ann's  horse,  and  supposing  her 
to  be  a  man  was  in  the  act  of  shooting  her  when  she 


EXPERIENCES  OF  A  SPECIAL   INDIAN   AGENT.       269 

held  up  her  child  and  stopped.  I  kept  on  alone  at  the 
top  of  my  horse's  speed  after  the  chief,  and  about  half 
a  mile  further  when  in  about  twenty  yards  of  him  I  fired 
my  pistol,  striking  the  girl — whom  I  supposed  to  be  a 
man,  as  she  rode  like  one,  and  only  her  head  was  visible 
above  the  buffalo  robe  with  which  she  was  wrapped — 
near  the  heart,  killing  her  instantly.  And  the  same 
ball  would  have  killed  both  but  for  the  shield  of  the 
chief,  which  hung  down  covering  his  back.  When  the 
girl  fell  from  the  horse,  dead,  she  pulled  the  chief  off 
also,  but  he  caught  on  his  feet,  and,  before  steadying 
himself,  my  horse  running  at  full  speed  was  nearly  upon 
him,  when  he  sped  an  arrow  which  struck  my  horse 
and  caused  him  to  pitch  or  "buck,"  and  it  was  with 
the  greatest  difficulty  I  could  keep  my  saddle,  mean 
time  narrowly  escaping  several  arrows  coming  in  quick 
succession  from  the  chief's  bow.  Being  at  such  disad 
vantage  he  undoubtedly  would  have  killed  me,  but  for 
a  random  shot  from  my  pistol  while  I  was  clinging  with 
my  left  hand  to  the  pommel  of  my  saddle,  which  broke 
his  right  arm  at  the  elbow,  completely  disabling  him. 
My  horse  then  becoming  more  quiet,  I  shot  the  chief 
twice  through  the  body;  whereupon  he  deliberately 
walked  to  a  small  tree  near  by,  the  only  one  in  sight, 
and  leaning  against  it  with  one  arm  around  it  for  sup 
port,  began  to  sing  a  weird,  wild  song — the  death-song 
of  the  savage.  There  was  a  plaintive  melody  in  it 
which,  under  the  dramatic  circumstances,  filled  my 
heart  with  sorrow.  At  this  time  my  Mexican  servant 
who  had  once  been  a  captive  with  the  Comanches  and 
spoke  their  language  as  fluently  as  his  mother  tongue, 
came  up  in  company  with  others  of  my  men.  Through 
him  I  summoned  the  chief  to  surrender,  but  he  promptly 
treated  every  overture  with  contempt,  and  emphasized 
his  refusal  with  a  savage  attempt  to  thrust  me  through 


270         SERVICE  ON  THE  INDIAN  RESERVATIONS. 

with  his  lance,  which  he  still  held  in  his  left  hand.  I 
could  only  look  upon  him  with  pity  and  admiration,  for 
deplorable  as  was  his  situation,  with  no  possible  chance 
of  escape,  his  army  utterly  destroyed,  his  wife  and  child 
captive  in  his  sight,  he  was  undaunted  by  the  fate  that 
awaited  him ;  and  as  he  preferred  death  to  life,  I 
directed  the  Mexican  to  end  his  misery  by  a  charge  of 
buckshot  from  the  gun  which  he  carried,  and  the  brave 
savage,  who  had  been  so  long  the  scourge  and  terror  of 
the  Texas  frontier,  passed  into  the  land  of  shadows  and 
rested  with  his  fathers.  Taking  up  his  accoutrements, 
which  I  subsequently  delivered  to  General  Sam  Hous 
ton,  as  Governor  of  Texas  and  Commander  in  Chief  of 
her  soldiery,  to  be  deposited  in  the  State  Archives  at 
Austin,  we  rode  back  to  the  captive  woman,  whose 
identity  was  then  unknown,  and  found  Lieutenant  Kelli- 
heir,  who  was  guarding  her  and  her  child,  bitterly 
reproaching  himself  for  having  run  his  pet  horse  so  hard 
after  an  "old  squaw."  She  was  very  dirty  and  far 
from  attractive,  in  her  scanty  garments  as  well  as  her 
person,  but  as  soon  as  I  looked  her  in  the  face,  I  said: 
"Why,  Tom,  this  is  a  white  woman;  Indians  do  not 
have  blue  eyes."  On  our  way  to  the  captured  Indian 
village  where  our  men  were  assembling  with  the  spoils 
of  battle  and  a  large  cavalcade  of  Indian  ponies  which 
we  had  captured,  I  discovered  an  Indian  boy  about  nine 
years  old,  secreted  in  the  tall  grass.  Expecting  to  be 
killed,  he  began  to  cry,  but  I  made  him  mount  behind 
me  and  carried  him  along,  taking  him  to  my  home  at 
Waco,  where  he  became  an  obedient  member  of  my 
family.  When  in  after  years  I  tried  to  induce  him  to 
return  to  his  people  he  refused  to  go,  and  died  in  Mc 
Lennan  County  about  four  years  ago. 

When  camped  for  the  night,  Cynthia  Ann,  our  then 
unknown    captive,    kept    crying,    and    thinking    it    was 


EXPERIENCES  OF  A  SPECIAL   INDIAN    AGENT.       271 

caused  by  fear  of  death  at  our  hands,  I  had  the  Mexican 
tell  her,  in  the  Comanche  language,  that  we  recognized 
her  as  one  of  our  own  people  and  would  not  harm  her. 
She  replied  that  two  of  her  sons  in  addition  to  the  infant 
daughter  were  with  her  when  the  fight  began,  and  she 
was  distressed  by  the  fear  that  they  had  been  killed. 
It  so  happened,  however,  that  both  escaped,  and  one 
of  them — Quanah — is  now  the  chief  of  the  Comanche 
tribe,  and  the  beautiful  City  of  Quanah,  now  the  county 
seat  of  Hardeman  County,  is  named  in  his  honor.  The 
other  son  died  some  years  ago  on  the  plains.  Through 
my  Mexican  interpreter  I  then  asked  her  to  give  me 
the  history  of  her  life  with  the  Indians  and  the  circum 
stances  attending  her  capture  by  them,  which  she 
promptly  did  in  a  very  intelligent  manner,  and  as  the 
facts  detailed  by  her  corresponded  with  the  massacre  at 
Parker's  Fort  in  1836,  I  was  impressed  with  the  belief 
that  she  was  Cynthia  Ann  Parker.  Returning  to  my 
post,  I  sent  her  and  her  child  to  the  ladies  at  Camp 
Cooper,  where  she  could  receive  the  attention  her  sex 
and  situation  demanded,  and  at  the  same  time  I  dis 
patched  a  messenger  to  Colonel  Isaac  Parker,  her  uncle, 
near  Weatherford,  Parker  County,  named  as  his  memo 
rial,  for  he  was  for  many  years  a  distinguished  Senator 
in  the  Congress  of  the  Republic  and  in  the  Legislature 
of  the  State  after  annexation.  When  Colonel  Parker 
came  to  my  post  I  sent  the  messenger  with  him  to 
Camp  Cooper  in  the  capacity  of  interpreter,  and  her 
identity  was  soon  discovered  to  Colonel  Parker's  entire 
satisfaction.  She  had  beeri  a  captive  just  twenty-four 
years  and  seven  months  and  was  in  her  thirty-fourth 
year  when  recovered. 

The  fruits  of  this  important  victory  can  never  be  com 
puted  in  dollars  and  cents.  The  great  Comanche  Con 
federacy  was  forever  broken,  the  blow  was  decisive, 


272         SERVICE  ON  THE  INDIAN  RESERVATIONS. 

their  illustrious  chief  slept  with  his  fathers  and  with  him 
were  most  of  his  doughty  warriors  ;  many  captives  were 
taken,  four  hundred  and  fifty  horses,  their  camp 
equipage,  accumulated  winter  supplies,  and  so  forth. 

If  I  could  spare  time  from  my  official  duties  and  had 
patience  I  could  furnish  you  with  many  thrilling  inci 
dents,  never  published,  relating  to  the  early  exploits, 
trials  and  suffering's  of  the  early  pioneers.  My  father 
was  appointed  Indian  Agent  in  1856;  he  had  an  excel 
lent  memory  and  treasured  these  until  in  later  life  I 
listened  by  the  hour  to  their  recital.  I  remain,  my 
dear  General,  Sincerely  your  friend,  T  c  o 

But  little  of  this  sad  episode  remains  to  be  told. 
Cynthia  Ann  and  her  infant  barbarian  were  taken  to 
Austin,  the  capital  of  the  State;  the  immortal  Sam 
Houston  was  Governor,  the  Secession  Convention  was 
in  session.  She  was  taken  to  the  magnificent  State- 
house  where  this  august  body  was  holding  grave  dis 
cussion  as  to  the  policy  of  withdrawing  from  the  Union. 
Comprehending  not  one  word  of  her  mother  tongue, 
she  concluded  it  was  a  council  of  mighty  chiefs,  assem 
bled  for  the  trial  of  her  life,  and  in  great  alarm  tried  to 
make  her  escape.  Her  brother,  Colonel  Dan  Parker, 
who  resided  near  Parker's  Bluff,  in  Anderson  County, 
was  a  member  of  the  Legislature  from  that  county,  and 
a  colleague  of  this  writer,  who  then  represented  the 
Eleventh  Senatorial  District.  Colonel  Parker  took  his 
unhappy  sister  to  his  comfortable  home,  and  essayed 
by  the  kind  offices  of  tenderness  and  affection  to  restore 
her  to  the  comforts  and  enjoyments  of  civilized  life  to 
which  she  had  so  long  been  a  stranger.  But  as  thorough 
an  Indian  in  manner  and  looks  as  if  she  had  been  native 
born  she  sought  every  opportunity  to  escape  and  rejoin 
her  dusky  companions,  and  had  to  be  constantly  and 
closely  watched. 


EXPERIENCES  OF  A  SPECIAL   INDIAN   AGENT.       273 

The  civil  strife  then  being  waged  between  the  North 
and  South,  between  fathers,  sons  and  brothers,  necessi 
tated  the  primitive  arts  of  spinning  and  weaving,  in 
which  she  soon  became  an  adept,  and  gradually  her 
mother  tongue  came  back,  and  with  it  occasional  inci 
dents  of  her  childhood.  But  the  ruling  passion  of  her 
bosom  seemed  to  be  the  maternal  instinct,  and  she 
cherished  the  hope  that  when  the  cruel  war  was  over 
she  would  at  least  succeed  in  reclaiming  her  two  sons 
who  were  still  with  the  Comanches.  But  the  Great 
Spirit  had  written  otherwise,  and  Cynthia  Ann  and 
Little  Prairie  Flower  were  called  in  1864  to  the  Spirit 
Land  and  peacefully  sleep  side  by  side  under  the  great 
oak  trees  on  her  brother's  plantation  near  Palestine. 

Thus  ends  the  sad  story  of  a  woman  whose  stormy 
life,  darkened  by  an  eternal  shadow,  made  her  far- 
famed  throughout  the  borders  of  the  imperial  Lone  Star 
State.  When  she  left  it,  an  unwilling  captive,  it  con 
tained  scarce  fifty  thousand  people  and  was  distracted 
by  foreign  and  domestic  war.  To-day  it  contains  three 
millions  and  is  the  abode  of  refinement,  wealth,  culture 
and  universal  prosperity  and  happiness. 

Cynthia  Ann's  son  has  been  for  some  years  the  pop 
ular  hereditary  chief  of  the  once  powerful  confederacy 
of  Comanche  Indians,  which,  though  greatly  decimated 
by  war  and  the  enervating  influences  of  semi-civilization, 
is  still  one  of  the  most  numerous  tribes  in  the  United 
States.  He  is  intelligent,  wealthy,  tall,  muscular  and 
graceful  in  his  movements,  is  the  friend  of  the  white 
man,  and  rules  his  tribe  with  firmness,  moderation  and 
wisdom.  They  are  located  on  their  picturesque  Reser 
vation  in  the  Indian  Territory,  not  many  miles  distant 
from  the  City  of  Quanah,  so  named  in  his  honor. 

A  few  years  since  I  met  the  chief  in  Wichita  Falls, 
and  when  informed  that  I  had  personally  known  his 


274         SERVICE  ON  THE  INDIAN  RESERVATIONS. 

palefaced  mother,  Cynthia  Ann,  or  Prelock  —  as  she 
was  called  by  the  Indians — he  had  a  thousand  questions 
to  ask  about  her  personal  appearance,  size,  shape,  form, 
height,  weight,  color  of  hair  and  eyes,  etc.  He  gave 
me  a  cordial  invitation  to  visit  him  at  his  "tepee,"  or 
wigwam,  near  Fort  Sill,  profusely  promising  all  the 
fish,  game,  ponies  and  squaws  I  desired." 


EXPERIENCES  OF  A  SPECIAL   INDIAN    AGENT.       275 


CHAPTER  XXIX. 

HOW  QUANAH  BECAME  CHIEF  —  HIS  COURTSHIP  OF 
YELLOW  BEAR'S  DAUGHTER — THE  LOVERS  ELOPE — 
THE  RENDEZVOUS  ON  THE  CONCHO  RIVER "STEAL 
ING  HORSES  ALL  OVER  TEXAS" — PURSUED  AND 
OVERTAKEN  —  YELLOW  BEAR'S  "BLOW  OUT"  IN 
FORT  WORTH. 

ENERAL  ALFORD'S  statement  that  Quanah  is 
the  hereditary  chief  is  incorrect.  He  is  the  son 
of  a  chief,  it  is  true;  but  sons  of  Indian  chiefs  do  not 
succeed  to  chieftaincies  by  the  "divine  right"  of  inherit 
ance,  but  by  force  of  courage,  character  and  ability. 
Besides,  I  have  Quanah's  own  account  of  how  he  be 
came  chief,  and  the  story  is  far  more  romantic,  as  it  is 
also  less  tragic,  than  the  painfully  thrilling  stories  of  the 
capture  and  recapture  of  his  ill-fated  mother.  He  nar 
rated  it  to  me  on  two  or  three  different  occasions  when 
I  happened  to  be  in  camp  with  him  on  the  prairies,  and 
I  never  lost  interest  in  the  rehearsal.  Although  he 
speaks  English  only  brokenly,  and  is  modest  and  re 
tiring  in  disposition,  he  is  an  exceedingly  entertaining 


276         SERVICE  ON  THE  INDIAN  RESERVATIONS. 

conversationalist  on  topics  within  the  range  of  his  knowl 
edge,  his  descriptive  powers  being  really  extraordinary, 
considering  the  meagerness  of  his  vocabulary.  Much 
of  the  charm  is  in  the  simplicity  and  directness  of  his 
style,  and  the  aptness  of  his  illustrations  from  nature. 


A   COMANCHE   BOY. 

By  the  death  of  his  father  and  the  recapture  of  his 
mother  Quanah  was  left  an  orphan  at  an  age  which 
could  not  have  been  more  than  twelve  years.  The 
same  disaster  that  reduced  him  to  orphanage,  also  made 
him  a  pauper.  Although  the  son  of  a  deceased  chief, 
now  having  no  parents,  no  home  and  no  fortune,  he 
became,  not  the  ruler  of  his  tribe,  but  a  waif  of  the 


EXPERIENCES  OF  A  SPECIAL    INDIAN   AGENT.       277 

camp.  But  being  self-reliant,  an  expert  archer,  a  suc 
cessful  hunter  for  one  of  his  age,  good  natured  and 
intelligent,  he  made  friends  among  the  boys  of  the  tribe 
at  least,  and  found  whereon  to  lay  his  head,  and  plenty 
to  eat  and  wear.  And  while  orphanage  and  poverty 
entailed  sorrow  and  suffering  upon  the  young  savage,  it 
was  happily  contrary  to  nature  for  those  sad  misfortunes 
to  divest  him  of  the  "divine  right"  to  love  and  be 
loved.  And  although  he  was  half  a  savage  by  blood 
and  a  complete  one  by  habit  and  association,  abundant 
proof  that  he  was  not  devoid  of  the  finer  instincts  of 
humanity  is  found  in  the  ardent  and  constant  love  which 
he  has  always  borne  for  his  first  wife,  Weckeah,  and 
the  strong  and  undying  affection  and  sympathy  that  he 
has  always  exhibited  for  his  most  unhappy  mother.  It 
is  said  that  his  first  question  upon  surrendering  the  tribe 
to  General  Mackenzie,  in  1876,  was  concerning  her,  and 
that  his  first  request  was  for  permission  to  go  to  see 
her,  her  death  not  then  being  known  either  to  himself 
or  the  General. 

Proof  of  his  captive-mother's  love  for  him,  and  the 
sentiment  of  her  nature,  are  shown  in  the  name  which 
she  bestowed  upon  him,  its  meaning  in  the  Comanche 
language  being  fragrance.  I  was  one  day  on  the  prairie 
with  a  large  party  of  Comanches.  We  stopped  at  a 
spring  for  water,  and  the  chiefs  Tabananaka  and  White 


278         SERVICE  ON  THE  INDIAN  RESERVATIONS. 

Wolf,  the  Jonathan  and  David  of  the  tribe,  walked 
down  the  branch  a  short  distance  and  gathered  a  large 
handful  of  wild  mint.  Holding  it  to  my  nose,  White 
Wolf  said:  "Quanah,  quanah.  You  take  it."  I 
said:  "Sweet  smell.  Is  that  quanah?"  They  replied  : 
"Yes;  quanah — heap  good  smell."  Then  plucking  a 
bunch  of  wild  flowers  they  inhaled  their  fragrance  to 
show  me  what  they  meant,  and  then  handing  them  to 
me,  said:  "Quanah — quanah — heap  quanah — good 
smell." 

Quanah's  best  friend  and  most  constant  playmate  in 
his  orphanage  was  Weckeah,  Chief  Yellow  Bear's 
daughter.  They  rode  her  father's  ponies  to  the  water- 
holes,  played  through  the  camps  together,  and  were 
inseparable.  He  shot  antelope  and  other  game  for  her 
amusement,  and  she  learned  to  bead  his  moccasins  and 
ornament  his  bow-quiver. 

The  years  went  by  and  Quanah  and  Weckeah  were 
no  longer  pappooses.  They  were  in  the  very  bloom  of 
young  manhood  and  womanhood,  and  each  in  form  and 
feature  without  flaw  or  blemish.  But  they  did  not 
know  that  they  loved  one  another. 

There  were  other  young  men  in  the  village,  however, 
and  one  day  one  of  them,  gaudily  painted  and  bedecked 
with  beads  and  small  mirrors,  came  near  Yellow  Bear's 
tepee,  blowing  his  reed  flutes.  Three  days  later  he 


EXPERIENCES  OF  A  SPECIAL   INDIAN   AGENT.       279 

came  again,  and  nearer  than  before.  Only  two  days 
passed  until  he  came  the  third  time.  Spreading  his 
blanket  on  the  grass  in  front  of  Yellow  Bear's  tepee, 
and  seating  himself  on  it,  he  looked  straight  at  the 
doorway  and  played  softly  all  the  love  songs  of  the 
tribe.  Weckeah  showed  not  her  face  to  the  wooer. 
Her  heart  was  throbbing  violently  with  a  sensation  that 
had  never  thrilled  her  before;  but  it  was  not  responsive 
to  the  notes  of  the  flutes. 

Nor  had  Quanah  been  unobservant,  and  now  there 
were  strange  and  violent  pulsations  through  his  veins 
also.  It  was  the  first  time  he  had  ever  seen  the  arts  of 
the  lover  attempted  to  be  employed  on  Weckeah. 
Instantly  his  very  soul  was  aflame  with  love  for  her. 
There  was  just  one  hot,  ecstatic,  overpowering  flush  of 
love,  and  then  there  came  into  his  leaping  heart  the 
chilling,  agonizing  thought  that  this  wooing  might  be 
by  Weckeah's  favor  or  encouragement.  Then  a  very 
tempest  of  contending  emotions  raged  in  his  breast. 

When  the  sun's  rays  began  to  slant  to  the  east,  there 
came  to  Yellow  Bear's  tepee  a  rich  old  chief  by  the 
name  of  Eckitoacup,  who  had  been  when  a  young  man 
the  rival  of  Petanocona  for  the  heart  and  hand  of  the 
beautiful  "White  Comanche,"  Cynthia  Ann  Parker. 
Eckitoacup  and  Yellow  Bear  sat  down  together  on  buf 
falo  robes  under  the  brush  wickiup  in  front  of  the  tepee. 


280         SERVICE  ON  THE  INDIAN  RESERVATIONS. 

They  smoked  their  pipes  leisurely,  and  talked  a  long 
time,  not  in  whispers,  but  very  slow  and  in  low  tones. 


QUANAH  AND  WECKEAH. 

When  Quanah  and  Weckeah   met  that  evening  it  was 
with  feelings  never  experienced  before  by  either  of  them. 


EXPERIENCES  OF  A  SPECIAL   INDIAN    AGENT.       281 

Weckeah  was  greatly  agitated.  She  fluttered  like  a 
bird,  and  kneeling  at  Quanah's  feet,  she  locked  her 
arms  around  his  knees,  looked  up  in  his  face  and  begged 
him  to  save  her. 

The  lover  with  the  flutes  was  Tannap,  the  only  son 
of  rich  old  Eckitoacup.  Weckeah  abhorred  him,  but 
his  father  had  offered  Yellow  Bear  ten  ponies  for  her. 
Yellow  Bear  loved  his  daughter,  and  notwithstanding  it 
was  the  tribal  custom  he  was  loth  to  sell  her  against  her 
will.  He  had  given  Eckitoacup  no  answer  for  the 
present,  and  Weckeah  implored  Quanah  to  get  ten 
ponies  and  take  her  himself. 

Quanah  was  filled  with  deepest  pity  for  Weckeah, 
and  alarmed  almost  to  distraction  at  the  prospect  of 
losing  her,  for  he  owned  but  one  pony,  and  Tannap's 
father  owned  a  hundred.  After  telling  Weckeah  to  be 
brave  and  note  everything  said  and  done  in  her  sight 
and  hearing,  Quanah  tore  away  from  her  and  gathering 
all  of  his  young  friends  together,  explained  his  situation 
to  them.  They  loved  him  and  hated  Tannap,  but 
calamities  in  war  had  made  them  all  poor  like  himself. 
They  separated  to  meet  again  in  secret  with  others  next 
morning.  During  the  day  nine  ponies  were  tendered 
to  him,  which  with  the  one  'he  owned  made  ten.  These 
Quanah  accepted  on  condition  that  others  should  be 
received  in  exchange  for  them  whenever  he  could  get 


282         SERVICE  ON  THE  INDIAN  RESERVATIONS. 

them,  which  he  was  ambitious  and  hopeful  enough  to 
believe  he  could  some  day  do. 

Driving  these  ponies  with  the  haste  of  an  anxious 
lover  to  Yellow  Bear's  tepee,  Quanah  there  met  old 
Eckitoacup,  who  greeted  him  with  a  taunting  chuckle 
of  exultation  and  a  look  of  wicked  revenge.  His  spies 
having  informed  him  of  the  action  of  Quanah's  friends, 
he  had  raised  his  bid  to  twenty  ponies.  This  being  an 
exceptionally  liberal  offer,  Yellow  Bear  had  promptly 
accepted  it,  and  now  the  jealous  and  unforgiving  old 
savage  was  exulting  in  his  triumph  over  the  poor  but 
knightly  rival  of  his  arrogant  and  despised  son,  and 
gloating  in  his  revenge  upon  the  valiant  and  rising  son 
of  his  own  late  successful  and  hated  rival. 

Entering  the  tepee  Quanah  found  Weckeah  prostrated 
at  her  mother's  feet  in  deepest  distress.  In  two  sleeps 
Tannap  would  bring  the  twenty  ponies  and  claim  his 
prize.  Weckeah  was  heartbroken  and  Quanah  was 
desperate.  He  hurried  back  for  another  consultation 
with  his  friends,  but  not  to  ask  for  more  ponies.  It 
was  to  submit  a  new  and  startling  proposition  to  them 
— to  tell  them  of  a  new  thought  that  had  come  to  him 
— a  new  resolution  that  had  taken  possession  of  his  very 
soul.  Though  he  himself  did  not  suspect  it,  the  star  of 
a  new  chief  was  about  to  rise  above  the  horizon. 

The  new  scheme  promising  spoils  and  adventure  as 


EXPERIENCES  OF  A  SPECIAL  INDIAN   AGENT.      283 

well  as  triumph  over  a  hated  rival,  Quanah's  zealous 
young  friends  agreed  to  it  with  an  enthusiasm  which 
they  could  hardly  avoid  showing  in  their  faces  and 
actions. 

The  unhappy  lovers  stole  another  brief  twilight  meet 
ing  in  the  shadows  of  Yellow  Bear's  tepee.  Weckeah's 
quick  eyes  noted  with  increased  admiration  and  confi 
dence  that  the  past  two  days  had  marked  a  great  change 
in  Quanah.  He  was  now  no  longer  a  boy.  He  seemed 
to  have  grown  taller,  was  more  serious  and  thoughtful, 
and  spoke  with  an  evident  courage  and  consciousness 
of  strength  which  gave  her  great  hope  and  comfort. 
He  told  her  their  only  hope  was  in  flight,  and,  as  she 
knew,  according  to  the  inexorable  law  of  the  tribe  that 
meant  certain  death  to  him  and  at  least  the  delivery  of 
herself  to  Tannap,  and  possibly  death  to  herself  also,  if 
they  should  be  overtaken. 

Weckeah,  instead  of  being  deterred  by  the  hazards  of 
an  attempt  at  elopement,  was  eager  to  go,  for  in  that 
step  she  could  see  the  possibility  of  a  life  of  happiness, 
and  escape  from  a  fate  which,  in  her  detestation  of 
Tannap,  she  regarded  as  even  worse  than  death. 

Just  at  moondown  the  next  night,  which  from  the 
description  given  me  I  suppose  was  about  n  o'clock, 
Quanah  and  one  of  his  friends  met  Weckeah  at  the  door 
of  her  father's  tepee  and  carried  her  to  the  edge  of  the 


284         SERVICE  ON  THE  INDIAN  RESERVATIONS. 

camp,  where  their  horses  and  twenty-one  other  young 
men  were  waiting. 

And  now  began  the  most  remarkable  elopement,  and, 
in  some  respects  at  least,  the  most  remarkable  ride 
ever  known  on  the  plains,  among  either  whites  or 
Indians. 

Quanah  took  the  lead  with  Weckeah  next  behind 
him,  and  the  twenty-one  young  men  following  in  single 
file.  For  seven  hours  they -did  not  break  a  lope  except 
to  water  their  ponies  in  crossing  streams.  At  daylight 
they  stopped  to  graze  their  ponies  and  make  a  repast 
on  dried  buffalo  meat.  Here  Weckeah  saw  with  pride 
and  increasing  confidence  that  many  of  those  twenty- 
two  tall,  sinewy  young  men  carried  guns,  and  all  of 
them  revolvers,  shields,  bows,  and  quivers  full  of  arrows, 
and  were  mounted  and  equipped  throughout  as  a  select 
war  party. 

Stopping  only  a  few  hours,  they  changed  their 
course,  separated,  and  came  together  again  at  a  desig 
nated  place  at  sunset.  There  they  stopped  again  until 
moondown,  and  then  resuming  their  journey,  traveled 
together  all  night. 

They  were  now  in  Texas,  and  dared  not  travel  any 
more  in  daylight.  When  night  came  on  they  changed 
their  course  again,  separated  into  couples,  and  traveled 
that  way  several  nights,  coming  together  at  a  place 


EXPERIENCES  OF  A  SPECIAL   INDIAN   AGENT.       285 

which  from  the  description  I  think  probably  was  Double 
Mountain,  in  Scurry  County,  Texas.  There  they 
stopped  several  days  to  recruit  their  ponies,  subsisting 
themselves  on  game,  which  then  abounded  in  that 


COMANCHE  BUCKS. 


region.  From  that  place  they  traveled  in  couples  from 
high  point  to  high  point  until  they  came  to  a  river 
which  I  suppose  from  the  description  was  one  of  the 
main  branches  of  the  Concho,  and  there  they  established 


286        SERVICE  ON  THE  INDIAN  RESERVATIONS. 

their  rendezvous  and,  as  Quanah  expressed  it,  "went 
to  stealin'  bosses." 

It  has  been  said,  indeed  I  believe  it  has  been  univer 
sally  conceded,  that  the  Comanches,  before  their  subju 
gation,  were  "the  finest  horse  thieves  the  world  ever 
saw."  Whether  this  has  been  conceded  or  not,  I  am 
sure  no  one  who  knew  them  then  will  deny  that  it  was 
a  well  deserved  "compliment."  And  I  doubt  not  that 
Quanah  and  his  bridal  party,  or  bridle  party,  which  ever 
it  may  seem  most  appropriate  to  call  it,  contributed  gen 
erously  to  the  weaving  of  that  wreath  for  the  tribal  brow. 

Eckitoacup's  band  being  utterly  unable  to  follow  the 
trail,  the  fugitives  remained  undiscovered  in  that  region 
more  than  a  year,  and,  in  Quanah's  own  candid  and 
comprehensive  language,  "just  stole  hosses  all  over 
Texas."  In  a  few  months  they  had  a  large  herd,  in 
cluding  many  valuable  American  horses  and  mules. 

But  it  was  not  long  until  the  young  men  began  to 
sigh  for  "the  girls  they  had  left  behind  them,"  and  to 
venture  back,  a  few  at  a  time,  to  see  them,  and  always 
with  laudations  of  their  chief,  and  glowing  accounts  of 
the  magnitude  and  "profits"  of  their  "business."  They 
invariably  returned  with  their  sweethearts,  and  many 
other  Indians,  of  both  sexes,  also.  With  Quanah's 
encouragement  their  visits  became  frequent,  and  at  the 
end  of  a  year  his  band  numbered  several  hundred. 


EXPERIENCES  OF  A  SPECIAL   INDIAN    AGENT.       287 

But  through  these  visits  old  Eckitoacup  had  heard  of 
the  fugitive,  and  was  now  coming  with  a  large  war 
party  to  punish  him  and  take  Weckeah.  Weckeah 


COMANCHE  GIRLS  AND  PAPPOOSE. 

again  became  badly  frightened.  She  would  get  behind 
Quanah  from  the  direction  of  Tannap's  approach,  clasp 
her  arms  around  him  and  beg  him  not  to  give  her  up. 


288         SERVICE  ON  THE  INDIAN  RESERVATIONS. 

But  her  entreaties  were  wholly  unnecessary.  Quanah, 
of  his  own  accord,  was  ready  to  die  rather  than  surfer 
her  to  be  taken  from  him. 

Eckitoacup  found  Quanah's  band  posted  for  battle. 
He  was  astounded  at  their  numbers  and  became  so 
alarmed  for  his  own  safety  that  he  was  glad  to  agree  to 
an  offer  of  compromise,  rather  than  risk  the  hazard  of 
battle.  Four  chiefs  were  sent  from  each  side  to  meet 
half  way  between  the  two  bands  and  arrange  the  com 
promise.  After  a  great  deal  of  smoking  and  haggling 
Eckitoacup's  men  proposed  to  accept  nineteen  horses, 
the  pick  of  Quanah's  herd,  in  full  satisfaction  of  all  de 
mands.  Quanah  promptly  approved  the  agreement 
with  the  cheerful  and  significant  observation  that  he 
knew  a  ranch  where  he  could  get  nineteen  others  just  as 
good  in  a  few  hours. 

This  gave  Quanah  the  right  to  return  to  the  tribe, 
and  as  the  Texans  had  him  pretty  well  "located"  in 
that  rendezvous  and  were  becoming  quite  "impudent" 
and  inhospitable  to  him,  and  as  his  band  was  now  too 
large  to  be  longer  concealed  anywhere  in  the  State,  he 
followed  close  after  Eckitoacup.  Continuing  in  the 
Territory  to  receive  accessions  from  the  other  bands, 
including  Eckitoacup's,  he  soon  became  the  acknowl 
edged  chief  of  the  tribe,  and  as  a  war-chief  before  being 
overpowered  and  conquered  he  had  achieved  great 


EXPERIENCES  OF  A  SPECIAL   INDIAN    AGENT.       289 

renown  for  prowess,  enterprise,  sagacity  and  true  mili 
tary  genius. 

As  General  Alford  says,  he  has  ruled  with  firmness, 
moderation  and  wisdom,  and  is  very  popular  with  both 
whites  and  Indians,  his  sway  perhaps  never  being 
greater,  or  even  as  great,  as  it  is  at  the  present  day. 
He  lives  in  a  picturesque  valley  on  the  south  side  of  the 
Wichita  Mountains,  where  he  owns  a  good  home,  a 
hundred  horses,  perhaps  a  thousand  cattle,  and  has  two 
hundred  and  fifty  acres  of  land  in  cultivation,  though  I 
doubt  if  he  has  ever  plowed  a  furrow  himself,  or  would 
do  it  if  he  could.  Weckeah  presides  over  his  house 
hold,  happy,  contented,  proud  of  her  husband,  with 
immunity  from  burdensome  duties,  and  provided  with 
all  the  comforts  and  luxuries  befitting  her  station  in  life. 
But  there  is  a  great  deal  of  Brigham  Young  or  Sultan 
of  Turkey  in  this  untutored  Comanche,  and  instead  of 
Weckeah  being  his  only  wife,  she  is  merely  his  favorite 
in  a  harem  of  five — his  devotion  to  her,  which  has 
always  been  constant  and  unquestioned,  not  precluding 
him  from  the  polygamous  custom  of  the  tribe.  It  must 
be  said  to  his  credit,  however,  that  Weckeah  is  still  his 
favorite.  This  is  quite  evident  to  those  who  see  much 
of  them,  and  on  one  occasion  when  something  was  said 
of  the  possibility  of  the  Government  arbitrarily  divorcing 
all  the  Indians  from  their  plural  wives,  I  asked  him 

(10) 


QUANAH   IN    CIVILIZED   DRESS. 


EXPERIENCES  OF  A  SPECIAL   INDIAN   AGENT.       291 

which  of  his  he  would  choose  to  retain  if  that  were 
done.  Without  a  moment's  hesitation  he  said  Weckeah. 
Yellow  Bear,  Weckeah's  father,  became  an  ardent 
friend  and  admirer  of  Quanah,  and  lived  until  1887, 
when  he  got  what  the  Texans  considered  "a  mighty 
good  joke"  on  himself.  He  and  Quanah  got  to  feeling 
rich  and  "civilized,"  put  on  their  "white  man  clothes," 
and  went  down  to  Fort  Worth  to  have  a  big  "blow 
out"  with  a  "herd"  of  cattle  barons  who  were  graz 
ing  cattle  on  their  Reservation.  They  put  up  at  the 
leading  "chuckaway  tepee"  of  the  town,  the  Pick 
wick,  and  coming  in  from  a  round-up  of  the  city  with 
their  white  friends  at  a  late  hour  of  the  night,  they 
dragged  themselves  wearily  up  to  their  room,  and 
"b lowed  out"  the  gas.  When  discovered  next  morning 
Yellow  Bear's  spirit  had  been  blown  away  to  the  bound 
less  prairies  of  the  Great  Spirit  above,  never  to  return, 
and  Quanah  was  crouched  on  his  "all-fours"  at  a  win 
dow,  unconscious,  his  own  soul  just  about  to  wing  its 
flight  to  the  same  mysterious  realms. 


292         SERVICE  ON  THE  INDIAN  RESERVATIONS. 


CHAPTER  XXX. 

FOUR  THOUSAND  INDIANS — A  SOCIAL  CALL  FROM  THE 
CHIEFS — AN  ECLIPSE  OF  THE  MOON — PANDEMONIUM 
—SUPERSTITIONS  AND  RELIGIOUS  THEORIES — BURIAL 
CUSTOMS — HUMOROUS  ANECDOTES. 

the  night  of  July  23,  1888,  there  was  a  total 
eclipse  of  the  moon.  All  the  Indians  on  the 
Reservation  were  encamped  at  the  Agency,  receiving  a 
payment  from  cattlemen  who  have  a  large  portion  of 
their  lands  leased  for  grazing  purposes. 

Early  in  the  evening  I  received  a  social  call  at  my 
house  from  a  party  of  chiefs  composed  of  Quanah,  Wild 
Horse,  Black  Horse  and  Cheevers,  Comanches ;  Lone 
Wolf,  Cat,  Big  Tree,  Big  Bow,  Stumbling  Bear  and 
Tohausen,  Kiowas ;  White  Man  and  Tohau,  Apaches, 
and  Tehuacana  Jim  and  Achittawax,  Wichitas. 

They  were  accompanied  by  Mr.  Thomas  F.  Wood- 
ard,  an  exceptionally  intelligent  and  truthful  interpreter, 
and  I  had  an  unusually  interesting  conversation  with 
them  on  general  topics,  much  of  it  being  of  a  reminiscent 


7_x" 


TEHUACANA  JIM    (Chief  of"  the  Wichitas)   AND  HIS  WIVES. 


294         SERVICE  ON  THE  INDIAN  RESERVATIONS. 

character.  It  was  just  at  the  time  of  the  capture  at 
Auckland,  New  Zealand,  of  Maxwell,  the  Englishman 
who  had  murdered  his  companion,  Preller,  in  St.  Louis, 
and  fled  to  Australia.  I  told  the  Indians  how  a  tele 
graph  message,  or  "wire  paper,"  as  they  would  say, 
had  been  sent  entirely  around  the  earth  to  notify  the 
officers  at  Auckland  to  intercept  him.  They  manifested 
some  interest  in  the  story,  but  not  the  least  amazement, 
either  because  they  were  incapable  of  comprehending 
the  magnitude  of  the  achievement,  or  because  Indians 
do  not  regard  anything  as  impossible  to  a  white  man. 

Wishing  to  see  if  I  could  astonish  them  I  asked  them 
if  they  knew  the  shape  of  the  earth.  They  looked  at 
one  another  and  hesitated  to  answer.  Finally  Ouanah 
said  in  a  cautious  sort  of  way  that  he  had  been  told  that 
it  was  "sorter  round."  To  that  old  Black  Horse 
retorted  in  a  tone  of  very  positive  incredulity: 

"Y-e-s;  I've  heard  that  too;  but  I've  ridden  over  as 
much  of  it  as  any  other  man,  and  it's  every  bit  flat, 
just  like  this  part  here.  Look  out  over  the  prairie  here 
and  you  can  see  for  yourselves  that  it's  flat;  and  it's 
just  the  same  all  the  way  to  Washington  City  and 
Mexico.  I've  been  to  both  places.  That's  jusf  a  lie 
that  some  white  man  has  started  to  fool  somebody,  but 
anybody  ought  to  have  more  sense  than  to  believe  it." 

I  thought  of  the  good  old  deacon  who  was  expelled 


EXPERIENCES  OF  A  SPECIAL   INDIAN   AGENT.       295 

from  church  for  telling  his  brethren  that  he  had  seen 
ice  in  the  summer  time,  and  concluded  that  I  would 
not  try  any  further  to  astonish  Black  Horse  concerning 
the  shape  of  the  earth. 

Believing,  however,  that  I  could  "paralyze"  him  on 
the  eclipse,  I  asked  them  if  they  knew  that  the  moon 
would  "go  to  sleep"  that  night.  They  all  said  no.  I 
told  them  that  in  about  two  hours  from  that  time  it 
would  do  so.  Old  Black  Horse  straightened  up  and 
wanted  to  know  how  I  knew. 

"Oh,"  I  replied,  "it's  no  trick  at  all  for  white  people 
to  tell  beforehand  when  such  things  are  going  to  hap 
pen.  You  don't  know  but  what  they  have  something 
to  do  with  bringing  them  about." 

He  shook  his  head  and  said,  "No;  there's  no  ac 
counting  for  a  white  man.  He's  liable  to  do  anything." 

The  information  made  them  all  uneasy,  and  in  a  few 
minutes  they  asked  me  if  it  was  really  true,  and  on 
being  assured  that  it  was,  they  said  they  would  return 
to  camp  and  announce  it  to  all  the  Indians,  for  not  one 
of  them  knew  it  was  going  to  happen.  Mr.  Woodard 
laughingly  remarked  that  I  "would  hear  pandemonium 
break  loose  when  it  did  happen,  too." 

After  their  departure  everything  was  unusually  still 
and  silent  in  the  camps  until  the  eclipse  began  to  show, 
and  then  Mr.  Woodard's  remark  was  very  soon  verified. 


EXPERIENCES  OF  A  SPECIAL   INDIAN   AGENT.       297 

At  first  I  could  hear  the  chiefs  and  medicine  men 
shouting  to  the  Indians  as  if  giving  them  directions 
what  to  do.  Then  they  all  commenced  to  yell  and 
rattle  chains  and  tin  pans,  and  fire  off  guns  and  pistols. 
That  set  the  ponies  to  running  and  neighing,  and  five ' 
thousand  dogs  to  barking.  As  the  eclipse  grew  darker 
the  firing  and  accompanying  noises  increased  until  the 
din  was  absolutely  deafening. 

Before  the  eclipse  became  total  the  noises  were  abated 
somewhat,  apparently  from  sheer  exhaustion  of  the  In 
dians.  Just  at  that  time  I  received  a  dispatch  from 
Philadelphia  announcing  the  death  of  a  chief  named 
Shaddataka,  who  was  in  that  city  with  a  show.  I  sent 
Mr.  Woodard  to  interpret  the  message  to  his  family. 
They  and  his  entire  band  immediately  set  up  a  terrible 
wail  of  lamentation.  Two  daughters  of  the  old  chief, 
Wild  Horse,  who  had  visited  me  in  the  evening,  were 
very  sick,  and  within  five  minutes  of  the  receipt  of  the 
news  of  Shaddataka's  death,  one  of  them  expired. 
Then  the  camp  became  a  veritable  bedlam.  The  eclipse 
was  not  yet  total,  but  it  was  so  nearly  so  that  it  was 
quite  dark — a  peculiar,  weird  darkness.  Scores  of  the 
Indians  were  still  firing  guns  and  pistols.  Squaws  were 
still  beating  tin  pans,  rattling  chains  and  singing  weird 
songs,  the  medicine  men  were  yelling,  the  ponies  run 
ning  and  neighing,  the  dogs  barking,  and  all  of  the  two 


298         SERVICE  ON  THE  INDIAN  RESERVATIONS. 

bereaved  bands,  both  men  and  women,  crying  at  the 
top  of  their  voices.  The  women  cut  off.  their  hair, 
daubed  mud  on  their  heads,  and  gashed  their  faces, 
arms  and  breasts  with  knives  in  the  most  horrible  man 
ner.  Just  as  the  eclipse  became  total,  and  when  the 
first  outburst  of  lamentation  had  begun  to  subside,  Wild 
Horse's  other  daughter  died.  Then  the  scene  became 
absolutely  indescribable,  and  I  believe  even  beyond  the 
power  of  imagination.  The  whole  camp  was  in  a  ter 
rible  frenzy  of  grief  and  consternation. 

The  crying  of  Indians  is  entirely  different  from  the 
sobbing  and  weeping  of  white  people.  Adult  Indians 
of  both  sexes  bawl  like  children.  I  have  seen  old  men 
crying  loud  enough  to  be  heard  half  a  mile.  To  hear 
even  one  is  distressing,  and  the  wail  of  the  entire  camp, 
both  men  and  women,  is  simply  awful. 

It  was  3  o'clock  in  the  morning  before  there  was  any 
sleep  for  either  whites  or  Indians.  Next  morning  the 
Indians  all  looked  haggard  and  dejected.  Noticing 
that  all  of  their  belts  were  empty  of  cartridges  I  asked 
them  if  they  had  any  left.  They  replied:  "No  more 
cartridges.  Shoot  'em  all  away.  Got  none  now." 

There  were  near  four  thousand  Indians  in  the  camps. 
At  least  one  thousand  two  hundred  were  men  and  boys, 
and  each  of  them  had  either  a  pistol  or  a  Winchester 
rifle,  and  hundreds  of  them  had  both.  I  calculated  that 


EXPERIENCES  OF  A  SPECIAL   INDIAN   AGENT.       299 

they  must  have  had  an  average  of  ten  cartridges  apiece. 
Most  of  the  employes  put  the  average  at  twenty.  At 
ten,  the  number  of  shots  fired  was  twelve  thousand;  at 
twenty,  it  was  twenty-four  thousand. 

These  noises  were  made  to  frighten  the  Great  Bad 
Spirit  and  make  it  turn  the  moon  loose.  The  Indians 
have  a  religious  theory  or  belief  that  there  are  two 
Great  Spirits — a  good  one  and  a  bad  one — and  that 
they  are  constantly  struggling  with  one  another  for  con 
trol  of  the  destinies  of  the  Indian.  When  they  see  a 
shadow  coming  over  the  moon  they  think  it  is  being 
put  out,  or  put  to  sleep,  by  the  Great  Bad  Spirit,  and 
they  make  loud  noises  for  the  double  purpose  of  fright 
ening  the  Bad  Spirit  away,  and  arousing  and  encour 
aging  the  Good  Spirit. 

They  have  a  great  many  superstitions.  One  of  them 
is  that  the  Bad  Spirit  is  manifesting  his  wrath  whenever 
anything  is  struck  by  lightning,  and  if  it  happens  to  be 
a  piece  of  their  property  they  abandon  it  forever. 

Late  one  evening  the  Agency  office  was  struck  and 
almost  demolished.  The  news  spread  rapidly,  and 
scores  of  Indians  came  during  the  next  three  days  to 
look  at  it.  They  all  rode  entirely  around,  stopping  at 
each  side  and  end  to  take  a  good  look,  but  not  one 
ventured  in,  or  even  dismounted  from  his  pony. 

About  the  fourth  day  an  old  Indian  who  lived  on  the 


EXPERIENCES  OF  A  SPECIAL   INDIAN   AGENT.       301 

Little  Washita,  twenty  miles  distant,  came  all  the  way 
to  the  Agency  to  tell  me  that  he  had  heard  that  I  did 
not  intend  to  throw  the  office  away,  and  to  ask  me  if 
his  information  was  correct.  I  assured  him  that  it  was, 
and  showed  him  that  carpenters  were  then  repairing  the 
damage.  He  said  he  was  glad  to  hear  it,  because  his 
house — a  small  log  cabin — was  struck  during  the  same 
storm,  and  as  it  had  cost  him  a  great  deal  of  money, 
and  the  lightning  had  knocked  just  a  small  hole  in  the 
roof  that  could  easily  be  repaired,  he  hated  to  throw  it 
away,  as  had  always  been  their  "road,"  and  had  con 
cluded  to  come  and  see  if  I  really  intended  to  keep  the 
office,  as  he  had  heard.  If  so,  he  would  keep  his 
house.  But  if  1  thought  there  was  any  danger  of  the 
Great  Bad  Spirit  "hitting  at  us  again"  if  we  continued 
to  use  the  buildings,  why  we  would  better  just  give 
them  up  and  "sit  down"  in  new  places. 

Of  course  I  had  patience  with  the  old  man,  and  con 
gratulated  him  on  the  sensible  conclusion  he  had  come 
to,  explained  to  him  as  well  as  I  could  what  lightning 
was,  and  sent  him  back  greatly  pleased. 

Many  superstitions  are  also  seen  in  the  burial  customs 
of  the  Indians.  Some  of  the  tribes  bury  in  caves  and 
ravines,  some  in  trees,  and  some  on  top  of  the  ground. 
Generally  the  bodies  are  tightly  wrapped  in  blankets 
and  shawls,  and  those  buried  on  the  ground  are  usually 


302         SERVICE  ON  THE  INDIAN  RESERVATIONS. 

deposited  in  sitting  postures,  and  walled  in  with  rocks. 
Those  buried  in  trees  are  securely  fastened  and  encased 
on  scaffolds  tied  to  the  branches.  The  Poncas  and 
some  other  tribes  bury  on  scaffolds  built  six  or  eight 
feet  high  on  forked  stakes  driven  in  the  ground.  The 
air  on  the  plains  being  extremely  dry,  it  is  not  unusual 
to  see  bodies  thus  buried  pretty  thoroughly  mummified. 
Many  of  the  Indian's  personal  effects  are  either  buried 
with  him  or  deposited  on  his  grave,  and  his  relatives, 
instead  of  planting  flowers,  bring  cooked  food  for  a 
given  number  of  days  and  leave  it  in  pans  and  bowls, 
for  the  departed  to  subsist  upon  until  he  completes  the 
journey  to  the  "happy  hunting  grounds."  Sometimes 
all  of  his  ponies  are  killed  at  the  grave,  but  that  custom 
is  gradually  being  broken  up  by  the  Agents.  Trunks, 
and  things  of  that  sort,  however,  are  frequently  seen 
piled  on  the  graves. 

Indians  sometimes  also  make  very  funny  mistakes  in 
trying  to  adopt  the  customs  of  the  white  people.  Some 
years  ago  some  cattlemen  leased  a  large  portion  of  the 
Comanche  Reservation  for  grazing  purposes.  Taba- 
nanaka,  chief  of  one  of  the  bands,  was  opposed  to  it, 
but  the  majority  overruled  him  and  he  had  to  submit. 
He  had  no  confidence  in  the  cattlemen,  however,  and 
did  not  hesitate  to  charge  that  they  would  move  their 
fences  and  take  in  more  land  every  time  the  Indians 
turned  their  backs, 


EXPERIENCES  OF  A  SPECIAL    INDIAN   AGENT.       303 

To  satisfy  him  on  that  point  somebody  suggested 
that  he  could  get  the  Agent  to  swear  them.  He  went 
to  see  the  Agent  and  got  his  promise  to  do  it.  When 
the  day  came  the  cattlemen  were  all  on  hand  with  their 
surveyors,  and  over  a  thousand  Indians  were  also 
present  to  witness  the  running  of  the  line,  so  that  if  the 
stakes  were  ever  moved  they  would  know  it.  But  the 
Agent  failed  to  appear,  and  the  Indians  were  very  much 
upset. 

Finally  one  of  the  cattlemen,  to  avoid  delay,  inquired 
of  the  chiefs  why  Tabananaka  could  not  swear  them 
himself,  just  as  well  as  a  white  chief.  Of  course  the 
Indians  saw  no  reason  why  he  could  not,  and  after  some 
discussion,  it  was  agreed  that  he  should  do  it.  The 
stake  for  the  starting  point  was  driven,  and  all  the  In 
dians,  fully  a  thousand  of  them,  stood  breathless  and 
on  tiptoe  to  see  Tabananaka  swear  the  "wohaw  chiefs," 
as  they  called  the  cattlemen.  The  "wohaw  chiefs" 
removed  their  hats  and  held  up  their  right  hands  and 
Tabananaka  swore  them  by  the  Great  Spirit  above  their 
heads  and  the  mother  earth  beneath  their  feet  that  they 
would  never  pull  up  or  destroy  that  stake  or  move  their 
fence  away  from  it,  and  told  them  very  pointedly  that 
if  they  ever  did  they  would  certainly  "hear  something 
drop"  mighty  quick.  The  cattlemen  crowded  around 
him  and  complimented  him  extravagantly  on  the  skill 


304         SERVICE  ON  THE  INDIAN  RESERVATIONS. 

and  ability  which  he  displayed  in  the  proceeding,  but 
they  had  failed  to  notice  that  the  oath  only  applied  to 
that  particular  stake. 

Two  hundred  yards  up  the  line  the  surveyors  set 
another  small  stake,  and  all  hands  were  going  right  on 
when  Tabananaka  commanded  them  to  halt.  They 
asked  what  was  the  matter.  Tabananaka  looked  sur 
prised  and  said:  "Here's  another  stake.  Swear  to 
it."  The  cattlemen  laughed  and  said:  "Why,  you 
swore  us  at  the  other  one.  Once  is  enough."  That 
confirmed  Tabananaka's  suspicions  that  they  would 
have  to  be  sworn  and  watched,  too,  and  he  replied: 
"Yes;  and  you  must  swear  to  all  of  them,  or  stop  the 
survey."  Of  course  no  cattleman  who  wants  Indian 
grass  and  knows  his  business  is  going  to  stand  back  on 
a  little  swearing.  So  they  all  jumped  to  their  places, 
jerked  their  hats  off,  raised  both  hands  high  enough  to 
have  satisfied  a  stage  robber,  and  swore  they  "would 
never  monkey  with  that  stob  no  more,  nuther,"  as  one 
of  them  expressed  it. 

This  line  was  about  seventy-five  miles  long.  A  big 
post  was  set  every  mile,  and  small  stakes  between. 
Tabananaka  would  not  listen  to  the  cattlemen  at  all, 
but  the  surveyors  finally  convinced  him  that  it  would  be 
sufficient  to  swear  them  at  the  mile  posts.  That  was 
the  best  compromise  they  could  make  with  him,  and 


EXPERIENCES  OF  A  SPECIAL   INDIAN   AGENT.       305 

notwithstanding  it  became  very  monotonous,  they  had 
to  stand  it.  One  of  them  said  that  Tabananaka  kept 
enlarging  on  his  oath  until  towards  the  last  it  was  an 
oath,  a  stump  speech,  and  his  opinion  of  the  white  man 
in  general  and  of  the  "Texas  wohaw  chief"  in  par 
ticular,  all  in  one. 

Jack  Stillwell,  Judge  of  the  Police  Court  of  El  Reno, 
Oklahoma,  and  Lewis  N.  Hornbeck,  editor  of  the 
Minco  Minstrel,  tell  the  following  story  on  a  Cheyenne 
chief  named  Big  Wolf.  When  the  Government  paid 
Big  Wolf  his  share  of  the  purchase  money  of  the  Chey 
enne  and  Arapahoe  Reservation  he  went  to  town  to 
buy  a  hack.  Among  the  stock  of  hacks  and  buggies 
was  a  $300  hearse.  The  plumes  and  white  metal 
platings  arrested  the  old  man's  attention,  and  when  the 
dealer  showed  him  that  he  could  lay  down  inside  and 
see  out  through  the  glass  sides  as  he  traveled  along, 
the  bargain  was  closed.  He  paid  the  $300,  hitched  in 
his  two  little  ponies,  put  his  wife  up  on  the  box  to 
drive,  and  then  shut  himself  up  inside,  to  travel  with 
the  dignity  and  style  becoming  a  man  of  his  wealth  and 
station. 

The  Comanches  are  very  playful  Indians.  They  are 
fond  of  story-telling,  and  enjoy  a  joke  as  well  as  a  white 
man,  as,  in  fact,  most  Indians  do.  On  one  occasion  I 
spent  several  days  on  the  prairies  with  about  six  hun- 


EXPERIENCES  OF  A  SPECIAL   INDIAN   AGENT.       307 

dred  of  that  tribe  and  a  few  Kiowas  and  Apaches. 
Having  a  good  interpreter  and  plenty  of  smoking 
tobacco  and  cigarette  paper  with  me,  it  was  no  trouble 
to  get  the  chiefs  around  my  camp  fire  every  evening. 

Seeing  that  I  enjoyed  their  reminiscences  and  jokes 
on  one  another,  they  told  old  Black  Horse  that  he  must 
tell  me  about  his  capture  of  the  "black  white  man." 
The  old  fellow  had  never  taken  any  part  in  our  conver 
sations,  and  I  was  desirous  of  hearing  him  relate  an 
anecdote,  because  next  to  Quanah  he  had  perhaps  had 
the  most  eventful  career  of  any  Indian  on  the  Reserva 
tion.  For  many  years  he  was  a  terror  to  the  frontier 
settlements  of  Texas,  but  he  now  has  the  respect  and 
confidence  of  every  white  man  who  knows  him,  and  is 
really  one  of  the  very  best  Indians  on  the  Reservation. 
He  is  an  ugly  old  fellow,  however,  of  very  slight  form, 
lame  from  numerous  wounds  received  on  the  warpath, 
very  dark,  and  battered  and  scarred  almost  out  of  shape. 

He  demurred  at  first,  but  finally  related  the  story  as 
follows : 

"A  long  time  ago — maybe  so  thirty  snows,  maybe 
so  forty,  I  dunno — I  went  with  a  large  war  party  on  a 
raid  into  Mexico.  We  went  far  enough  south  to  see 
hundreds  of  monkeys  and  parrots.  We  thought  the 
monkeys  were  a  kind  of  people,  and  captured  two  of 
them  one  day.  That  night  we  whipped  them  nearly  to 


308         SERVICE  ON  THE  INDIAN  RESERVATIONS. 

death  trying  to  make  them  talk,  but  they  would  not 
say  a  word,  just  cry,  and  finally  we  turned  them  loose, 
more  puzzled  than  ever  to  know  what  they  were." 

"On  the  return  trip  we  came  back  through  Texas. 
One  day  I  was  scouting  off  to  one  side  alone,  and  met 
a  man  riding  through  the  mezquite  timber.  He  started 
to  run  and  my  first  thought  was  to  kill  him,  but  just  as 
I  was  about  to  send  an  arrow  he  looked  back  over  his 
shoulder  and  I  saw  that  his  skin  was  as  black  as  a  crow 
and  that  he  had  great  big  white  eyes.  I  had  never 
seen  or  heard  of  that  kind  of  a  man,  and  seeing  that  he 
was  unarmed  I  determined  to  catch  him  and  take  him 
to  camp  alive,  so  that  all  the  Indians  could  see  him.  I 
galloped  around  in  front  of  him  with  my  bow  and  arrow 
drawn,  and  he  was  heap  scared.  He  fell  off  of  his  mule 
pony  and  sit  down  on  his  knees  and  hold  his  hands  up 
high  and  heap  cry  and  say : 

"Please,  Massa  Injun,  don't  kill  poor  nigger !  Please, 
Massa  Injun,  don't  kill  poor  nigger!  Bi-yi-yi !  Please, 
Massa  Injun,  don't  kill  poor  nigger!  Bi-yi-yi!" 

Although  at  that  time  Black  Horse  did  not  know  a 
word  of  English  and  can  speak  but  few  even  now,  the 
negro's  crying  and  begging  made  such  an  impression 
on  him  that,  with  his  common  Indian  gift  of  mimicry, 
he  can  imitate  it  in  a  wonderfully  natural  manner  to 
this  day.  Continuing,  he  said:  "The  black  white  man 


EXPERIENCES  OF  A  SPECIAL   INDIAN   AGENT.       309 

was  heap  poor.  His  pony  was  an  old  mule  that  could 
not  run  fast  at  all.  His  saddle  was  'broke'  all  over, 
and  his  bridle  was  made  of  ropes.  His  clothes  were 
dirty  and  all  'broke'  full  of  holes,  and  his  shoes  were 
all  gone — got  none  at  all." 

"I  started  back  with  him,  and  on  the  way  we  came 
to  a  deep  water  hole.  I  was  nearly  dead  for  a  drink, 
and  motioned  to  the  'black  white  man'  to  get  down 
and  drink  too.  He  got  down  but  shook  his  head  to 
say  that  he  did  not  want  to  drink.  He  was  heap  scared 
— just  all  time  shake,  and  teeth  rattle,  and  all  time  cry, 
and  maybe  so  pray  to  Great  Spirit  to  make  Indian  turn 
him  loose,  and  he  be  a  good  man  and  never  make  it 
(the  Great  Spirit)  mad  any  more,  and  heap  o'  things 
like  that.  I  lay  down  to  drink.  The  bank  was  sloping 
and  my  feet  were  considerably  higher  than  my  head. 
Suddenly,  the  'black  white  man'  caught  my  back  hair 
with  one  hand  and  my  belt  with  the  other  and  raised 
me  away  up  over  his  head  with  my  face  upward.  Before 
I  could  do  a  thing  he  pitched  me  headforemost  away  out 
in  the  middle  of  the  water  hole.  I  went  clear  to  the  bot 
tom,  and  when  I  came  to  the  top  and  rubbed  the  water 
out  of  my  eyes,  I  saw  the  'black  white  man'  running  off 
on  my  pony,  kicking  with  both  feet  and  whipping  with 
his  hat.  I  rode  his  old  'mule  pony'  back  to  camp 
and  all  the  Indians  heap  laugh  at  Black  Horse." 


310         SERVICE  ON  THE  INDIAN  RESERVATIONS. 


CHAPTER  XXXI. 

ORDERED  TO  WASHINGTON — DETAINED  THERE  TWO 
MONTHS — RETURN  TO  THE  AGENCY — THE  INDIANS 
STARVING — CHIEF  CAT'S  PROPOSED  "LETTER"  TO 
WASHINGTON — RELIEVED  AT  ANADARKO — TO  VARI 
OUS  AGENCIES — IN  CHARGE  OF  THE  INDIAN  SCHOOL 
AT  GENOA,  NEBRASKA,  AS  ACTING  SUPERINTENDENT 

—  APPOINTED    INSPECTOR  —  TERMINATION   OF    MY 
"EXPERIENCES"  AS  SPECIAL  AGENT. 

the  first  of  December  I  was  ordered  to  Washing- 
ton  to  represent  the  Indian  Office  in  an  appeal 
which  the  deposed  Agent  at  Anadarko  had  made  for 
reinstatement.  The  Secretary  of  the  Interior  and  the 
President  taking  their  own  time  in  the  case,  I  was  de 
tained  there  two  months,  and  had  about  seven  weeks  of 
uninterrupted  sightseeing. 

I  visited  the  Capitol  occasionally  and  was  sometimes 
greatly  interested  in  the  proceedings  of  Congress.  The 
Supreme  Court  was  also  a  great  attraction  for  me,  and 
I  rarely  ever  passed  the  door  of  the  chamber  without 
going  in  to  take  a  look  at  the  learned  old  gentlemen  in 


EXPERIENCES  OF  A  SPECIAL   INDIAN   AGENT.       311 

black  gowns,  and  hear  them  expound  the  law  from  the 
bench.  To  me  there  was  always  a  charm  in  their  oral 
delivery  of  the  opinions  not  found  in  the  print — their 
manner  being  so  dignified  and  decorous,  and  yet  so 
simple  and  unaffected;  their  faces  beaming  with  the 
light  of  intelligence,  honesty  and  virtue,  and  their 
decisions  so  clear  and  so  replete  with  plain  and  unbe- 
clouded  justice.  I  was  present  when  Mr.  Justice  Lamar 
took  his  seat,  and  also  when  Chief  Justice  Waite  handed 
down  his  last  opinion. 

I  spent  considerable  time  strolling  through  the 
various  great  department  buildings  of  the  Government 
— the  Patent  Office,  the  Treasury  Building,  the  Post 
Office  Department,  and  the  magnificent  new  building  of 
the  War,  State  and  Navy  Departments.  Corcoran's 
Art  Gallery,  the  Smithsonian  Institution,  the  National 
Museum,  and  the  Washington  Navy  Yard  also  pos 
sessed  many  attractions  for  me.  I  also  made  visits  to 
Arlington  and  Mount  Vernon.  Arlington  is  the  old 
home  of  Robert  E.  Lee,  and  is  situated  on  a  bluff  on 
the  Virginia  side  of  the  Potomac  River,  in  sight  of 
Washington.  It  now  belongs  to  the  Government, 
having  been  confiscated  and  converted  into  a  national 
cemetery  during  the  war.  After  the  war  the  Supreme 
Court  held  the  confiscation  to  have  been  unlawful,  and 
awarded  the  Lee  heirs  certain  compensation  for  the 


312         SERVICE  ON  THE  INDIAN  RESERVATIONS. 

property.  The  old  mansion  is  carefully  preserved  in 
its  original  condition  and  appearance,  and  all  visitors 
are  treated  with  courtesy.  Mount  Vernon  is  situated 
on  a  bluff  overlooking  the  Potomac,  seventeen  miles 
below  Washington,  and  is  said  to  look  to-day  almost 
exactly  as  it  did  in  Washington's  lifetime.  It  is  now 
owned  and  preserved  to  the  public  by  the  Ladies' 
Mount  Vernon  Association,  and  is  the  mecca  of  all 
patriotic  visitors  to  the  national  capital. 

During  my  absence  the  Agency  beef  and  flour  con 
tractors  had  both  failed,  and  when  I  got  back  to 
Anadarko  on  the  first  of  February  many  of  the  Indians 
were  actually  starving.  The  employes  had  been  keep 
ing  them  pacified  several  days  with  assurances  of  my 
early  return.  A  delegation  of  Kiowa  chiefs  met  me  at 
the  office  and  seemed  greatly  disappointed  at  my  failure 
to  bring  the  beef  and  flour  with  me.  But  not  having 
heard  a  word  from  either  of  the  contractors,  of  course  I 
could  not  even  give  the  famishing  Indians  any  satis 
factory  information,  and  they  returned  to  camp  to  meet 
the-whole  tribe  in  council  and  decide  what  to  do.  In  that 
council  it  was  agreed  that  it  was  useless  to  write  a  letter 
to  Washington.  They  would  have  to  get  a  white  man 
to  write  it  for  them,  and  he  might  say  what  they  told 
him  to,  or  he  might  not — they  would  never  know. 
And  whether  he  did  or  not  it  would  not  move  Washing- 


LONE   WOLF.     (Chief  of  the  Kiowas.) 


314         SERVICE  ON  THE  INDIAN  RESERVATIONS. 

ton.  They  had  tried  that  plan  before,  and  always 
without  success.  The  only  way  to  attract  the  notice  of 
Washington  was  to  kill  somebody.  Whenever  they  did 
that  he  would  stop  to  listen,  and  send  somebody  quick 
to  see  what  was  the  matter.  It  would  be  time  lost  to 
write  a  letter.  They  must  kill  somebody,  and  be  quick 
about  it,  too,  for  their  women  and  children  were  crying 
for  something  to  eat.  But  who  should  be  the  victim? 
Cat,  a  good  friend  of  mine,  argued  that  question  in 
substance  as  follows : 

''Here  are  Tom  Woodard,  Bill  Shirley,  Fred  Schlegel, 
Jim  Carson,  Joe  Becker,  George  Madera,  Jack  Nestell, 
Major  Campbell,  George  Rose  and  Dr.  Graves — all 
been  here  long  time.  Maybe  so  Washington  forgot  all 
about  them — all  same  as  forgot  about  Injun.  Injun  kill 
one  of  them,  maybe  so  Washington  never  hear  about 
that.  Injun  kill  all  of  'em,  maybe  so  Washington  not 
much  care — no  ask  it  what's  the  matter.  Heap  o' 
trouble,  too,  to  kill  lots  o'  white  men  like  that.  White 
man  heap  big  fool.  Maybe  so  git  mad  and  heap  shoot 
and  kill  it  some  Injuns.  Cat  no  like  it,  that.  But 
Washington  see  Agent,  just  little  bit  ago.  Maybe  so 
Washington  no  forget  about  Agent.  Injun  kill  Agent, 
maybe  so  Washington  hear  about  that  purty  quick  and 
send  it  a  wire  paper  and  say,  'what's  the  matter  now? 
Injun  hungry?  All  right.  I  send  it  something  to  eat 


EXPERIENCES  OF  A  SPECIAL   INDIAN   AGENT.      315 

purty  quick.'  That's  the  best  way.  Kill  Agent. 
That  not  much  hard  work,  and  Washington  come  quick 
to  ask  it  what's  the  matter." 

Cat's  argument  prevailed,  and  it  was  agreed  that  he 
and  Komalta,  Polant  and  Little  Robe  should  come  to 
the  office  early  next  morning  and  ask  me  every  two  or 
three  hours  through  the  day  if  I  had  heard  anything 
from  the  beef  and  flour.  If  I  did  not  give  them  some 
definite  and  satisfactory  information  by  the  middle  of 
the  afternoon  they  were  then  to  stab  me  to  death  with 
knives.  Agreeably  to  this  programme  they  appeared 
at  the  Agency  about  8  o'clock.  Taking  no  notice  of 
several  chairs  in  the  office,  they  seated  themselves  on 
the  floor  around  the  stove,  made  a  lot  of  cigarettes, 
took  a  comfortable  smoke,  and  then  without  the  least 
manifestation  of  unusual  concern  asked  me  if  I  had 
heard  anything  of  the  beef  and  flour.  The  negative 
answer  which  they  received  produced  no  more  percepti 
ble  effect  on  them  than  it  would  have  done  on  wooden 
men.  But  about  9  o'clock,  and  while  they  were  still 
lolling  about  the  office,  an  Indian  arrived  in  a  lope  with 
the  news  that  the  contractor's  men  had  camped  with  a 
herd  of  beef  cattle  twelve  miles  down  the  river  the  night 
before,  and  would  be  in  sight  of  the  Agency  in  two 
hours.  This  news  produced  a  perfect  jubilee.  Cat 
shook  hands  with  me  with  many  demonstrations  of  joy 


316         SERVICE  ON  THE  INDIAN  RESERVATIONS. 

and  affection,  entirely  unsuspecting  that  some  of  the 
Kiowas  who  opposed  that  method  of  attracting  Wash 
ington's  attention,  perhaps  through  fear  of  the  conse- 


MY  DEAR  OLD  FRIEND,  CAT. 

quences,  and  a  disposition  to  court  favor  with  the 
Agent,  had  come  direct  from  the  council  and  made  a 
full  disclosure  to  me. 


EXPERIENCES  OF  A  SPECIAL  INDIAN   AGENT.       317 

Notwithstanding  I  was  to  be  the  victim,  I  could  not 
find  it  in  my  heart  to  condemn  Cat  for  his  contemplated 
action  in  this  case.  Polant  and  Komalta  were  two  of 
the  most  turbulent  Indians  on  the  Reservation,  and  I 
never  believed  that  Little  Robe  was  very  much  better; 
but  Cat  was  really  a  good  Indian,  and  I  am  sure  he 
thought  a  great  deal  of  me  and  was  only  going  so  sac 
rifice  me  that  his  famishing  women  and  children  might 
live.  In  their  situation,  and  with  their  experiences  in 
previous  emergencies,  they  believed  that  was  the  only 
"letter"  they  could  "write"  to  Washington  that  would 
bring  prompt  and  adequate  relief  to  their  starving  fami 
lies.  That  being  true,  would  not  their  action  have 
been  sanctioned  by  the  first  law  of  the  white  man — that 
of  self-preservation?  I  thought  so,  and  within  myself  1 
did  not  believe  any  white  people  on  earth  would  have 
borne  their  neglect  half  as  long  or  half  as  patiently  as 
they  did. 

In  September  Major  W.  D.  Myers,  of  Pleasant  Hill, 
Missouri,  was  appointed  Agent,  and  on  the  first  of 
October,  eight  months  after  my  return  from  Washing 
ton,  he  arrived  at  Anadarko  and  relieved  me  of  the 
Agency. 

My  term  of  service  there  as  Acting  Agent  had  been 
eleven  months,  and  during  that  time  I  had  become 
warmly  attached  to  many  of  the  Indians  and  white  per- 


318         SERVICE  ON  THE  INDIAN  RESERVATIONS. 

sons  resident  on  the  Reservation — employes,  missiona 
ries,  traders,  and  citizens  by  marriage  with  Indians. 
Of  the  Agency  and  school  employes 
Dr.  W.  W.  Graves,  physician;  J.  K. 
P  Campbell,  clerk;  G.  A.  Hale  and 
W.  B.  White,  storekeepers;  J.  W. 
Carson,  general  foreman  and  chief  of 
police;  Webb  Hendrix  and  George 
D.  Madera,  farmers;  Lyon  Bing- 

ham,   W.    C.   Graves  and  Ed  Parish, 

s\  ^  ^ 

DR.  w.  w.  GRAVES,  herders  \  Thomas  F.  Woodard,  mil 
ler  and  general  utility  man;  Fred  Schlegel,  blacksmith; 
J.  A.  Becker,  carpenter,  Win.  Shirley,  interpreter, 
and  N.  Z.  Hurd,  issue  clerk  at  Fort  Sill:  Lewis  N. 
Hornbeck,  superintendent;  Miss  Mollie  A.  Higgins, 
matron;  Mrs.  Letitia  Hornbeck  and  Miss  Katie  B. 
Hoshall,  teachers  of  the  Kiowa  school:  J.  W.  Haddon, 
superintendent;  Miss  Belle  Fletcher  and  Miss  Hattie  V. 
Weir,  matrons;  Mrs.  Fannie  C.  White  and  Miss  Louise 
Wallace,  teachers  of  the  Wichita  school,  and  George 
W.  Rose,  school  carpenter,  were  always  obedient  and 
faithful,  and  generally  efficient,  in  the  performance  of 
their  duties.  And  as  members  of  the  Indian  police 
force  who  never  disobeyed  an  order  or  shirked  a  duty  I 
still  remember  Captain  Arco,  Lieutenant  Kohta,  and 
privates  Kopeta,  Yellow  Fish,  Wauknakodoke,  Kokoon, 
Satanta,  Achittawax  and  Chaddlekaungky. 


EXPERIENCES  OF  A  SPECIAL   INDIAN    AGENT.       319 

From  Anadarko  I  proceeded  by  way  of  Darlington 
and  Oklahoma  Station  to  Ardmore,  in  the  Chickasaw 
Nation,  where  I  had  to  investigate  a  dispute  over  a  coal 
mine.  Five  different  companies  had  been  incorporated 
under  the  Chickasaw  laws,  and  each  had  laid  out  an 
extensive  claim  covering  the  mine  in  question.  I  re 
ported  in  favor  of  the  Bodine  Coal  Company,  whose 
officers  were  J.  B.  Bodine  and  Samuel  Zuckerman. 
Upon  completing  that  duty  I  returned  to  the  Cheyenne 
and  Arapahoe  Agency,  where  I  was  occupied  several 
days  investigating  charges  of  misconduct  against  the 
Agent  and  one  of  the  traders.  From  Cheyenne  and 
Arapahoe  I  proceeded  to  Ponca,  Pawnee,  Otoe  and 
Oakland,  to  make  another  general  inspection  of  that 
Agency.  Agent  Osborne  had  been  having  considerable 
trouble  at  Otoe,  but  since  my  last  visit  he  had  secured 
a  new  clerk  for  that  place — Mr.  J.  P.  Woolsey — with 
whom  he  was  greatly  pleased,  and  who  was  handling  all 
of  the  affairs  of  that  troublesome  little  Sub-Agency  with 
marked  success.  My  next  stop  was  at  Muscogee,  where 
I  sojourned  a  week  with  Colonel  Owen,  of  the  Union 
Agency,  and  Colonel  D.  M.  Wisdom,  his  very  excellent 
chief  clerk.  From  Muscogee  I  continued  on  by  way  of 
Vinita  to  the  Quapaw  Agency.  About  a  week  after 
my  arrival  at  that  place  I  received  an  order  by  tele 
graph  to  proceed  immediately  to  Genoa,  Nebraska.  I 


320         SERVICE  ON  THE  INDJAN  RESERVATIONS. 

departed  on  the  next  train  by  way  of  Springfield,  Mis 
souri,  Kansas  City  and  Omaha.  In  the  latter  city  I 
bought  a  morning  paper,  and  almost  the  first  item  to 
attract  my  eye  was  an  announcement  from  Washington 
of  my  appointment  by  the  President  to  be  an  Indian 
Inspector.  I  was  not  aware  of  any  vacancy  in  the  In 
spectorships  at  the  time,  and  the  news  was  a  great  sur 
prise  to  me. 

Genoa  is  a  small  town  on  the  Union  Pacific  Railroad 
a  hundred  and  thirty  miles  up  the  Platte  River  from 
Omaha.  A  large  Indian  school,  known  as  Grant  Insti 
tute,  is  located  there.  The  Superintendent  had  been 
removed,  and  upon  my  arrival  there  I  found  written 
orders  assigning  me  as  Special  Agent  to  the  charge  of 
the  school  as  Acting  Superintendent.  That  was  the 
25th  of  January,  and  I  remained  there  in  charge  of  the 
school  until  the  I2th  of  March,  when  I  qualified  and 
entered  upon  duty  as  an  Inspector,  and  thereby  termi 
nated  my  "experiences"  as  a  Special  Agent. 


APPKNDIX. 


SALARIES  OF  THE  AGENTS  —  NUMBER  AND  PAY  OF  THE 
AGENCY  AND  SCHOOL  EMPLOYES  — HOW  APPOINT 
MENTS  ARE  MADE  —  NAMES  AND  LOCATION  OF  THE 
AGENCIES  —  NUMBER  OF  INDIANS  —  HOW  TRADER- 
SHIPS  ARE  OBTAINED. 

A  CCORDING  to  the  reports  of  the  Commissioner  of 
-*-^-  Indian  Affairs,  the  total  Indian  population  of 
the  United  States,  exclusive  of  Alaska,  is  247,761. 
The  names  of  the  Agencies  in  the  various  States  and 
Territories,  and  the  number  of  Indians  at  each;  the 
salaries  of  the  Agents,  the  number  and  pay  of  the 
Agency  and  school  employes,  and  the  rules  govern 
ing  appointments  and  the  granting  of  traderships,  are 
as  follows : 

ARIZONA. 

Colorado  River  Agency. — Indians,  2,527;  Agent, 
$1,500;  clerk  and  physician,  each,  $1,000;  5  other 
Agency  employes,  farmer,  carpenter,  blacksmith,  issue 
clerk,  herder,  etc.,  $360  to  $800 ;  superintendent  of 
school,  $1,000;  7  other  school  employes,  teachers, 
matron,  seamstress,  cook,  laundress,  etc.,  $150  to  $720. 

Pima    Agency. — Indians,     1,050;     Agent,     $1,800; 


322  APPENDIX. 

clerk  and  physician,  each,  $1,200;  9  employes,  $120- 
to  $800;  superintendent  of  school,  $1,200;  8  school 
employes,  $480  to  $840. 

San  Carlos  Agency. — Indians,  4, 977  ;  Agent,  $2,000;. 
clerk,  physician,  engineer  and  sawyer,  each,  $1,200; 
7  employes,  $760  to  $900;  superintendent  of  school,. 
$1,200;  15  school  employes,  $100  to  $900;  physician 
Fort  Apache  Sub-Agency,  $1,200;  14  employes,  $240 
to  $540. 

Industrial  Schools. — At  Phoenix  :  Superintendent,. 
$1,800;  clerk,  $1,000;  farmer,  $840.  On  Moqui 
Reservation:  Superintendent,  $1,500;  physician, 
$1,000;  10  employes,  $120  to  $840.  At  Fort  Mo- 
jave:  Superintendent,  $1,500;  clerk  and  physician 
(one  person),  $1,000;  12  employes,  $120  to  $840. 

CALIFORNIA. 

Hoopa  Valley  Agency . — Indians,  422;  Agent, $1,200; 
physician,  $1,000;  6  Agency  employes,  $120  to  $720; 
teacher,  $72  per  month;  assistant,  $12. 

Mission  and  Tule  River  Agency. — Indians,  3,779; 
Agent,  $1,600;  physician,  $1,000;  clerk,  $900;  2 
farmers,  $75  per  month;  superintendent  of  school, 
$1,200;  8  teachers,  $72  per  month;  I,  $36. 

Ronnd  Valley  Agency. — Indians,  608 ;  clerk  and 
physician,  each,  $1,000;  8  Agency  employes,  $100  to 
$900;  teacher,  $80  per  month. 


APPENDIX.  323- 

Industrial  Schools, — At  Fort  Yuma  :  Superintendent 
and  physician,  each,  $1,200;  10  employes,  $360  to 
$720.  At  Greenville:  Teacher,  $600.  At  Ferris:. 
Superintendent,  $1,500. 

COLORADO. 

Southern  Ute  Agency . — Indians,  978;  Agent,  $1,400;, 
clerk,  $1,000;  physician,  $1,200;  6  employes,  $120* 
to  $900. 

Industrial  School. — At  Grand  Junction  :  Superin 
tendent,  $1,500;  9  employes,  $450  to  $900. 

IDAHO. 

Fort  Hall  Agency. — Indians,  1,444;  Agent,  $1,500; 
clerk,  $1,000;  physician,  $1,200;  14  employes,  $16- 
per  month  to  $840  per  year. 

Lemhi  Agency — Indians,  557;  Agent,  $1,200;  phy 
sician,  $1,000;  4  employes,  $720  to  $900;  superin 
tendent  of  school,  $800;  5  school  employes,  $120  to 
$720. 

Nez  Perce  Agency. — Indians,  1,460;  Agent,  $1,600; 
clerk,  $1,000;  physician,  $1,200;  6  employes,  $360 
to  $720;  school  teacher,  600;  industrial  teacher,  $720; 
4  school  employes,  $480  to  $600. 

Industrial  Schools. — At  Fort  Hall :  Superintendent, 
$1,500;  physician,  $1,000;  19  employes,  $120  to 


324  APPENDIX. 

:$84O.      At  Fort   Lapwai:    Superintendent,  $i  ,000;    15 
-employes,  $120  to  $900. 

INDIAN   TERRITORY. 

Quapaw  Agency. — Indians,  1,049;  Agent,  $1,500 ; 
clerk  and  physician,  each,  $1,200;  5  employes,  $480 
to  $600;  superintendent  of  school,  $1,200;  teacher, 
$1,000;  8  school  employes,  $48  per  month  to  $600 
per  year;  22,  $180  to  $600. 

Union  Agency. — Indians  (five  civilized  tribes), 
61,000;  Agent,  $1,500;  clerk.  $1,200;  assistant, 

$900. 

IOWA. 

Sac  and  Fox  Agency . — Indians,  380;  Agent,  $i  ,000; 
.2  employes,  each,  $600. 

KANSAS. 

Pottawatomie  and  Great  Neniaha  Agency. — Indians, 
1,007;  Agent,  $1,200;  clerk,  $1,200;  physician, 
$1,200;  I,  $1,000;  14  employes,  $300  to  $720;  2 
•superintendents  of  schools,  $720  each;  I,  $750;  10 
school  employes,  $300  to  $480. 

Industrial  School. — Haskell  Institute,  at  Lawrence: 
Superintendent,  $2,000;  assistant,  clerk,  physician, 
and  principal  teacher,  each,  $1,200;  55  employes, 

$120  to  $900. 

MICHIGAN. 

Mac'kinac  Agency. — Indians,  7,313;  Agent,  $1,800; 


APPENDIX.  325^ 

clerk    and    physician,    $720    each;     superintendent    of 
school,   $1,500;   4  teachers,    $400  each;    I,   $60    per 

month. 

MINNESOTA, 

White  Earth  Agency. — Indians,  6,038;  Agent,, 
$1,800;  clerk,  $1,200;  3  physicians,  $1,200  each; 
superintendent  of  school,  $1,000;  .2  $800  each;  L 
overseer,  $1,000;  42  Agency  and  school  employes,. 
$120  to  $900. 

MONTANA. 

Black  feet  Agency. — Indians,  2,026;  Agent,  $1,800;: 
clerk  and  physician,  $1,200  each;  18  employes,  $120* 
to  $900;  superintendent  of  school,  $800;  teacher,. 
$720;  matron,  $480;  seamstress  and  cook,  $400  each. 

Crow  Agency. — Indians,  3,226;  Agent,  $2,000;. 
clerk  and  physician,  $1,200  each;  issue  clerk,  $1,000;, 
27  employes,  $150  to  $900;  superintendent  of  school,, 
$1,000;  10  school  employes,  $180  to  $800. 

Flathead  Agency. — Indians,  2,280;  Agent,  $1,500; 
clerk  and  physician,  $1,200  each;    12   employes,  $120* 
to  $900. 

Fort  Belknap  Agency. — Indians,  1,650;  Agent, 
$1,500;  clerk  and  physician,  $1,200  each;  18  em 
ployes,  $120  to  900. 

Fort  Peck  Agency. — Indians,  2,917;  Agent,  $2,000; 
clerk  and  physician,  $1,200  each;  14  employes,  $120- 


:326  APPENDIX. 

to  $900;    superintendent  of  school,  $1,200;    14  school 
•employes,  $120  to  $900. 

Tongue  River  Agency . — Indians,  795  ;  Agent,  $1,500  ; 
^physician,  $1,000;  10  employes,  $120  to  $900. 

NEBRASKA. 

Omaha  and  Winnebago  Agency. — Indians,  2,382; 
Agent,  $1,600;  clerk,  $1,200;  physician,  $1,000;  9 
employes,  $180  to  $900;  superintendent  of  school, 
:$900;  7  teachers,  $500  to  $600;  10  other  school  em 
ployes,  $420  to  $720. 

Santee  Agency. — Indians,  1,312;  Agent,  $1,200; 
[physician,  $1,200;  clerk,  $  1,000;  19  employes,  $150 
Jto  $720;  school  teacher,  $60  per  month. 

Skipping  Clerks. — Rushville  :  Shippingclerk,  $1,200; 
.assistant,  $600.  Valentine:  Shipping  clerk,  $1,200; 
assistant,  $600. 

Industrial  School. — Grant  Institute,  Genoa:  Super 
intendent,  $2,000;  clerk,  $1,000;  physician,  $1,000; 
31  teachers,  matrons,  industrial  teachers  and  other  em 
ployes,  $120  to  $900. 

NEVADA. 

Nevada  Agency. — Indians,  4,558;  Agent,  $1,500; 
clerk  and  physician,  $1,000  each;  5  employes,  $480 
to  $840;  2  teachers,  $72  per  month;  assistant  teacher 
matron,  $48  per  month  each. 


APPENDIX.  327 

Western  Shoshone  Agency. — Indians,  3,680;  Agent, 
$1,500;  physician,  $1,000;  clerk,  $900;  19  employes, 
$360  to  $720;  superintendent  of  school,  $720. 

Industrial  School. — At  Carson:  Superintendent, 
$1,500;  clerk,  $1,000;  9  employes,  $120  to  $900. 

NEW   MEXICO. 

Mescalero  Agency. — Indians,  1,202;  Agent,  $1,600; 
clerk,  $1,000;  physician,  $1,000;  5  employes,  $240 
to  $720;  superintendent  of  school,  $900;  3  employes, 
$480  to  $720. 

Navajo  Agency. — Indians,  19,277;  Agent,  $2,000; 
•clerk,  $1,000;  physician,  $1,200;  14  employes,  $120 
to  $900;  superintendent  of  school,  $1,000;  10  em 
ployes,  $120  to  $900. 

Pueblo  Agency. — Indians,  7,762;  Agent,- $1,500; 
physician,  $ i, ooo;  clerk,  $1,000;  8  employes,  $120 
to  $900;  3  teachers,  $80  per  month. 

Industrial  Schools. — At  Albuquerque:  Superintend 
ent,  $1,000;  35  teachers,  clerk,  physician,  matron, 
engineer,  watchman,  tailor,  farmers,  etc.,  $48  per 
month  to  $600  per  year.  At  Dawes  Institute:  Super 
intendent,  $1,500;  clerk,  $1,200;  15  employes,  $360 

to  $960. 

NEW    YORK. 

New  York  Agency. — Indians,  4,963  ;  Agent,  $i, ooo. 


328  APPENDIX. 

NORTH    CAROLINA. 

Eastern  Cherokee  Agency. — Indians,  3,000;  Agent, 
$800;  superintendent  of  school,  $1,200. 

NORTH    DAKOTA. 

Devil's  Lake  Agency. — Indians,  2,182;  Agent,. 
$1,200;  clerk  and  physician,  $1,000  each;*  12  em 
ployes,  $180  to  $900;  superintendent  of  school,  $72 
per  month. 

Fort  Berthold  Agency. — Indians,  1,322;  Agent, 
$1,500;  clerk  and  physician,  $1,200  each;  17  em 
ployes,  $180  to  $900. 

Standing  Rock  Agency. — Indians,  4,690;  Agent,. 
$1,800;  clerk  and  physician,  $1,200  each;  issue  clerkh 
$1,000;  57  employes,  $120  to  $900;  superintendent 
of  school,  $1,000;  n  teachers,  $360  to  $840;  12- 
other  school  employes,  $216  to  $480. 

Industrial  Schools. — At  Fort  Stevenson  :  Superin 
tendent,  $1,200;  10  employes,  $120  to  $600.  At 
Fort  Totten:  Superintendent,  $1,800;  clerk,  $1,000; 
15  employes,  $240  to  $840. 

OKLAHOMA. 

Sac  and  Fox  Agency. — Indians,  2,261  ;  Agent,. 
$1,200;  clerk,  $1,000;  two  physicians,  $1,000  each ; 
5  employes,  $300  to  $720;  superintendent  of  school, 
$1,000;  i,  $600;  13  school  employes,  $300  to  $700. 


APPENDIX .  329 

Ponca,  Pawnee,  Otoe  and  Oakland  Agency . — Indians, 
1,968;  Agent,  $1,500.  At  Ponca:  Clerk,  $1,200;  8 
employes,  $480  to  $720;  superintendent  of  school, 
$1,000;  15  school  employes,  $120  to  $720.  At  Paw 
nee:  Clerk,  $i,ooo;  9  employes,  $480  to  $720;  su 
perintendent  of  school,  $1,200;  9  school  employes, 
$360  to  $720.  At  Otoe:  Clerk,  $900;  physician, 
$1,200;  4  employes,  $300  to  $720;  superintendent  of 
school,  $900;  9  employes,  $120  to  $600.  At  Oak 
land:  General  mechanic,  $720;  school  teacher,  $720. 

Osage  Agency. — Indians,  1,705;  Agent,  $1,800; 
clerk,  $1,200;  assistant  clerk,  $1,000;  2  physicians 
and  chief  of  police,  $1,200  each;  general  mechanic, 
$1,000;  3  employes,  $480  to  $600;  superintendent  of 
school,  $i  ,000  ;  3  teachers  and  one  matron,  $600  each  ; 
10  other  school  employes,  $300  to  $400. 

Kaw  Sub-Agency . — Indians,  200;  superintendent  of 
school,  in  charge,  $900;  physician,  $1,200;  2  em 
ployes,  $600  and  $720;  9  school  employes,  $180  to 
$480. 

Kiowa,  Comanclie  and  Wichita  Agency. — Indians, 
4,182;  Agent,  $2,000;  clerk  and  physician,  $1,200 
each;  27  employes,  $120  to  $720;  3  superintendents 
of  schools  (2  at  Agency  and  I  at  Fort  Sill),  $1,000 
each;  27  school  employes,  $150  to  $720. 

Cheyenne   and  Arapahoe   Agency. — Indians,    3,434; 


330  APPENDIX. 

Agent,  $2,200;  clerk  and  physician,  $1,200  each;  28 
employes,  $180  to  $900;  2  superintendents  of  schools, 
$1,000  each;  2  teachers,  $720  each;  6,  $600  each;  2 
matrons,  $600  each;  10  other  school  employes,  $300 

to  $720. 

OREGON. 

Grand Ronde  Agency . —  Indians,  510;  Agent,  $  1,000; 
physician,  $ i, ooo;  clerk,  $900;  7  employes,  $120  to 
$780;  superintendent  of  school,  $900;  I  teacher,  $600; 
3  school  employes,  $360  to  $480. 

Klamath  Agency. — Indians,  972;  Agent,  $1,200; 
clerk  and  physician,  $i  ,000  each;  7  employes,  $120 
to  $800;  superintendent  of  school,  $1,200;  i,$i,ooo; 
3  teachers,  $600  each;  2,  $720  each;  10  other  school 
employes,  $360  to  $600. 

Siletz  Agency. — Indians,  612;  Agent,  $1,200;  clerk, 
$900;  physician,  $1,000;  5  employes,  $480  to  $800; 
superintendent  of  school,  $900;  9  school  employes, 
$240  to  $720. 

Umatilla  Agency. — Indians,  894;  Agent,  $1,200; 
clerk,  $900;  physician,  $1,000;  4  employes,  $300  to 
$800;  superintendent  of  school,  $1,200;  3  teachers, 
$600  each;  14  other  school  employes,  $400  to  $600. 

Warm  Springs  Agency. — Indians,  859;  Agent, 
$1,200;  clerk,  $800;  physician,  $900;  4  employes, 
$500  to  $720;  superintendent  of  school,  $1,000;  I, 


APPENDIX.  331 

4  teachers,  $600  to  $720;    10  other  school  em 
ployes,  $120  to  $600. 

Industrial  Schools. — At  Chemavva  :  Clerk  and  super 
intendent,  $1,200;  physician,  $1,000;  17  employes, 
$120  to  $900.  At  Salem:  Superintendent,  $2,000. 

PENNSYLVANIA. 

Training  School. — At  Carlisle  :  Average  attendance 
of  Indian  pupils,  560;  superintendent,  an  Army  officer; 
first  assistant  superintendent,  $1,500;  assistant  super 
intendent,  physician,  and  principal  teacher,  $1,200 
each;  clerk,  music  teacher,  disciplinarian,  and  matron, 
$1,000  each;  Soother  employes,  $120  to  $720. 

SOUTH    DAKOTA. 

Cheyenne  River  Agency. — Indians,  2,965  ;  Agent, 
$1,500;  clerk  and  physician,  $1,200  each;  28  em 
ployes,  $120  to  $900;  superintendent  of  school,  $900; 
<6  school  employes,  $120  to  $600;  5  teachers  day 
•schools,  $60  per  month;  I,  $36. 

Pine  Ridge  Agency. — Indians,  4,873  ;  Agent,  $1,800; 
•clerk  and  physician,  $1,200  each;  25  employes,  $480 
to  $900;  superintendent  of  school,  $1,500;  assistant, 
$1,000;  14  employes,  $309  to  $720. 

Rosebud  Agency . — Indians,  8,291;  Agent,  $2,200; 
clerk  and  physician,  $1,200  each;  36  employes,  $300 
to  $900;  17  teachers  of  day  schools,  $36  to  $72  per 
month. 


332  APPENDIX. 

Yankton  Agency. — Indians,  1,776;  Agent,  $i,.6oo; 
clerk  and  physician,  $1,200  each;  27  employes,  $120 
to  $900;  superintendent  of  school,  $1,200;  18  school 
employes,  $120  to  $600. 

Sisseton  Agency. — Indians,  1,496;  Agent,  $1,500; 
clerk  and  physician,  $1,000  each;  6  employes,  $180 
to  $720;  superintendent  of  school,  $1,200;  12  school 
employes,  $150  to  $720. 

Crow  Creek  and  Lower  Brule  Agency. — Indians,, 
2,274;  Agent,  $1,800;  2  clerks  and  2  physicians, 
$1,200  each;  40  employes,  $180  to  $900;  superin 
tendent  of  school,  $1,000;  5  teachers,  $240  to  $600; 
9  other  school  employes,  $120  to  $500. 

Industrial  School.  —  At  Pierre:  Superintendent,, 
$1,500;  ii  employes,  $150  to  $900. 

UTAH. 

Uintah  and  Ouray  Agency. — Indians,  2,598;  Agent, 
$1,800;  2  clerks  and  2  physicians,  $-1,200  each;  17 
employes,  $240  to  $  I, ooo;  superintendent  of  school, 
$1,200;  2  teachers,  $720  to  $840;  4  other  school  em 
ployes,  $400  to  $720. 

WASHINGTON. 

Colville  Agency. — Indians,  3,150;  Agent,.  $1,500; 
clerk  and  3  physicians,  $1,200  each;  10  employes, 
$240  to  $900;  superintendent  of  school,,  $900;,  6 
school  employes,  $500  to  $720. 


APPENDIX.  333 

Neah  Bay  Agency. — Indians,  780;  Agent,  $1,200; 
clerk  and  physician,  $1,000  each;  9  employes,  $120 
to  $480;  teacher  day  school,  $60  per  month;  I,  $48. 

Puyalhip  and  S' kokomish  Agency. — Indians,  1,712; 
Agent,  $1,600;  clerk,  $1,200;  2  physicians,  $1,000 
each;  superintendent  of  school,  $1,200;  2,  $900  each; 
9  teachers,  $600  to  $720;  16  school  employes,  $360 
to  $500. 

Yakama  Agency. — Indians,  3,290;  Agent,  $1,800; 
-clerk  and  physician,  $1,200  each;  12  employes,  $500 
to  $840;  superintendent  of  school,  $1,200;  10  school 
employes,  $120  to  $720. 

Quinaielt  Sub- Agency . — Indians,  423  ;  physician  in 
-charge,  $1,000;  2  employes,  $200  to  $600;  superin 
tendent  of  school,  $900;  n  school  employes,  $60  to 
$600. 

Tulalip  Agency. — Indians,  1,223;  Agent,  $1,200; 
physician  and  clerk,  $900;  10  employes,  $240  to  $720. 

WISCONSIN. 

Green  Bay  Agency . — Indians,  3,000;  Agent,  $2,000; 
superintendent  of  logging,  $1,800;  clerk  and  physi 
cian,  $1,200  each;  8  employes,  $480  to  $900;  matron 
Menomonie  hospital,  $450;  I  hospital  employe,  $400; 
*>  $35° 5  superintendent  of  school,  $1,200;  12  em 
ployes,  $400  to  $720. 


334  APPENDIX. 

La  Pointe  Agency. — Indians,  3,796;  Agent,  $2,000; 
clerk,  $1,200;  physician,  $1,000;  6  employes,  $700 
to  $900;  superintendent  of  schools  at  Tomah,  $1,500; 
9  teachers  of  day  schools,  $40  to  $60  per  month. 

WYOMING. 

Skoshone  Agency. — Indians,  1,800;  Agent,  $1,500;: 
clerk  and  physician,  $1,200  each;  engineer,  $1,000;; 
13  employes,  $120  to  $800;  superintendent  of  Reser 
vation,  $1,500;  superintendent  of  school,  $1,000;  io> 
school  employes,  $180  to  $800. 

Indians  not  under  an  Agent. — In  Arizona,  914;  in 
California,  6,456;  in  Florida,  892;  in  Idaho,  600;  in 
Maine,  410;  in  Oregon,  800;  in  Texas,  290;  in  Utah,. 
390;  in  Wisconsin,  1,210. 

Inspectors  and  Special  Agents. — Five  Inspectors ,. 
$3,000  and  actual  expenses;  five  Special  Agents, 
$2,000,  all  traveling  expenses,  and  $3  per  day  for  per 
sonal  expenses. 

APPOINTMENTS. 

Officers  and  Employes. — The  Inspectors  and  Agents  are 
appointed  by  the  President,  and  required  to  give  bond. 
The  Civil  Service  Law  now  applies  to  the  Agency  phy 
sicians,  and  also  to  the  superintendents,  assistant  super 
intendents,  physicians,  teachers  and  matrons  of  all  the 
schools,  and  applications  for  appointment  to  those  po- 


APPENDIX.  335 

sitions  should  be  addressed  to  "The  U.  S.  Civil  Service 
Commission,  Washington,  D.  C."  The  Commission 
should  be  first  written  to  for  blanks  and  instructions. 
The  Agency  clerks,  assistant  clerks,  warehousemen, 
overseers,  farmers,  millers,  mechanics,  blacksmiths, 
herders,  stablemen,  teamsters,  and  laborers;  and  also 
all  subordinate  employes  of  the  Reservation  schools, 
such  as  assistant  matrons,  seamstresses,  cooks,  laun 
dresses,  farmers,  disciplinarians,  and  laborers,  are  now 
appointed  by  the  Agents,  and  applications  for  those 
places  should  be  addressed,  with  proper  recommenda 
tions,  to  "The  U.  S.  Indian  Agent,"  at  the  particular 
Agency  where  service  is  desired.  The  subordinate 
employes  of  the  industrial  and  training  schools  are  ap 
pointed  by  the  superintendents. 

The  superintendents  of  Reservation  schools  are  under 
the  control  and  supervision  of  the  Agents.  But  the 
superintendents  of  the  industrial  and  training  schools 
are  under  the  direct  supervision  and  control  of  the  In 
dian  Department  at  Washington — not  subject  to  any 
Agent — and  are  required  to  give  bond. 

INDIAN   TRADERS. 

Merchants  are  licensed  by  the  Indian  Office  at  Wash 
ington  to  trade  with  the  Iqdians  at  the  various  Agen 
cies.  Applications  have  to  be  made  direct  to  the 


336  APPENDIX. 

Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs,  accompanied  by  proper 
recommendations  as  to  moral  character,  integrity,  etc. 
The  licenses  have  to  be  renewed  annually,  but  no  fee  is 
charged,  the  applicant  only  being  required  to  give  bond 
in  the  sum  of  $10,000  (on  blanks  furnished  by  the 
Department),  conditioned  that  he  will  observe  the  laws 
governing  trade  with  Indians.  The  number  of  traders 
at  each  Agency  is  limited  in  proportion  to  the  number 
and  income  of  the  Indians,  and  many  of  the  traderships 
are  very  valuable.  It  is  a  great  advantage  to  any  ap 
plicant,  either  for  appointment  or  for  license  to  trade, 
to  have  the  assistance  at  Washington  of  a  Senator  or 
Member  of  Congress,  though  many  applicants  succeed 
without  the  help  of  either. 


($13 


